Miss You Too
by lemurqueen247
Summary: Is it possible that the one who was bred to break your heart might just be the one to mend it? She thought he was a heartless monster, he thought she was a self-obsessed swat. That was until they met, they talked, they cursed...and they fell in love.
1. Pulling Away

**This is my first ever fanfiction, so please review to help me improve! I hope you enjoy it the first ever chapter of Miss You Too, a Draco and Hermione fanfic ...**

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><p>Hermione Granger sat on the Hogwarts Express with her cheek lightly pressed against the cool window whilst her breath steamed it up so that the rain that fell heavily on the other side was nearly invisible. She was sat staring blankly into nothingness, however to someone looking in at her from the outside would think she was just admiring the fast changing scenery.<p>

Her eyes were blank and her face was tired and haggard from lack of sleep, her brow also had a single crease in it so she looked like she was concentrating very hard on something, whilst her cheeks were thin on her bones and slightly blushed from the cold that had escaped from outside into her carriage. She was wearing her pristine new Hogwarts robe that paraded the Gryffindor colours, red and yellow on her slender figure that complemented her brown hair bring put the natural god highlights. Her tie was as neat and equal as normal around her thin neck and her top button was done up to look tidy, the only addition to her uniform this year was a large and shiny badge with the Hogwarts crest on it and stones impregnated into the surface; the badge read 'Head Girl'.

The moving scenery made her think of how different her life was compared to last year and how quickly the past year had sped by and how it had changed everything. This time last year Harry, Ron and Hermione would be sitting together joking and chatting about their past six weeks at The Burrow during the summer holiday. Ron would be scoffing his face full of chocolate frogs whilst Harry would be attempting to discuss the previous Quidditch game with him, she would be quietly reading in the corner; her lips slightly upturned at content of the book that she held in her lap whilst reading intently. Every now and again she would pause, look up at her two best friends and moan at Ron for eating too much, or ask Harry about the upcoming year and the lessons and joys it would be sure to bring. She smiled at this memory and wished so much that they could be here right now; but they weren't, this year was so very different. Everything had changed. Her world has been flipped, turned and crushed into a crumpled mess forgotten on the floor.

The past year had been stressful and hard work, but Hermione didn't understand how much she would miss all the simple things she had taken for granted until they were all snatched away from her in one fowl sweep. The start of the past holiday started as normal with all Weasleys and Harry residing to The Burrow where she would join them a week later after seeing her parents. Just ten days into the greatly anticipated holiday brought the announcement that had begun it all. She remembered the day exactly; the 3rd August - this date she would remember forever.

All the Weasleys, excluding Percy and Bill and Fleur who were planning their wedding for later on in year, were sitting at the crowed dining table. The atmosphere was been joyful and relaxed as always until Arthur Weasley walked through the door hours before he was expected with a look of sorrow etched onto his face. Hermione could hardly bare to think of the following conversation as she already had a lump in her throat, but to sum it up; The Weasleys had been forced to move away. Arthur had lost his job at the Ministry and the Order had been found out as someone had betrayed them and turned in all their information to the death eaters. All their lives were in grave danger as Voldemort was on their trail; their only hope was to flee to America in hope that they would not be followed. This news had broken them all. Fred and George were forced to relocate shops to America under new names and Arthur had found a new muggle job in a large company – keeping within the muggle community would help them keep safe and un-noticed. They had found a small house that Molly, Arthur, Ron and Ginny would share as all the other Weasley's had jobs away from home in Europe and only had to look after themselves meaning they were much less vunerable then the main family. Ron and Ginny were to be sent to a new school of Witchcraft and Wizardry that was best known for being a place for wizards and witches without hope, their only claim to fame was their bad reputation for their bad OWL and NEWT grades. It was the complete opposite of Hogwarts; it was almost an offence degrading Ron and Ginny from such a fine to school to such a bad one. At least they didn't have many years to withstand there and they had both completed the basic OWL course with good grades. After their school was complete there wasn't much hope for them in the wizarding world until the war was over, as they couldn't make themselves noticed in case of the wrong people finding them. For them it was like living in isolation, Hermione must be at least thankful that she could stay at Hogwarts this year even though it wouldn't be the same, it would never be the same.

The rest of the holiday had a horrible abeyance to it. It was mostly full with packing and preparation for the upcoming move and Harry and Hermione had helped as much as they could, however although they all tried to hide their emotions everyone was devastated and scared, devastated at the present but even more scared for the future. She vividly remembered one day when she and Ginny were helping Molly tidy up the kitchen after dinner when all of a sudden Molly fell to the floor in tears. Hermione had never seen her as vulnerable and weak looking as she did then as Molly had always been the positive, strong woman at the centre of the family. But that night she literally broke down and all she and Ginny could do was to lie to her and say everything would be alright. Molly was leaving her whole life; including her house, many of her possessions and her extended family; Harry and Hermione-it would be like her leaving two of her own children behind. Ginny had constantly stayed very strong for her family, but Hermione could see through her mask and new that on the inside she was broken.

Hermione sighed as she thought of their final departure, just two days ago. That day she had lost almost everything; her family, her home, her support - but most importantly her friends. In the past five years she had become very close to every one of the Weasleys, she now considered them all her family and she considered the Burrow her home as she had spend many a day there in the past years. Mostly she would miss Ron and Ginny; they made up two of her three best friends. She would miss their company, their smiles, their ginger hair and Weasly jumpers. Ron had been there through all their escapades and knew exactly how she felt when both of them had been dragged into the world of Harry Potter and both had endangered their lives for each other many times to save each other necks. They had been through a lot together and they had always been there for each other; through the tears of joy and of sadness. They had shared many jokes and arguments with each other over the years and they had become such close and trusting friends.

She would also miss the youngest and only female Wealsey sibling, being the friend of two teenage boys had taken its toll on Hermione and Ginny had been her saviour, like an angel in her time of need. She understood things Harry and Ron could never understand, from boy trouble to friend trouble to stress trouble. Ginny understood the idiot Ron could be sometimes and she was always a shoulder that Hermione she could count on crying on though all the fights that happened over the years. She just wished she had spent her time with them much better and not wasted it on silly break-up that took up some of their precious but limited time they had together. However, now it was all gone, they were all gone. They had promised her that they would keep in touch and would regularly send owls; they had told her that they would meet again before the year was out, but every one of them knew that next few months would be hard and seeing each other's faces again in the near future was nothing more than an unlikely dream.

Many tears flowed on their departure as they were literally leaving their lives behind. Arthur had organised muggle transportation to America by a plane which was a new experience for all of them, Arthur had driven them to a muggle airport and Hermione had helped them all check in their luggage as they were inexperienced at the muggle customs that came with flying on a plane. Once all of this was done she and Harry were forced to say goodbye as they couldn't go through security. She had been putting off this moment all summer even though she knew it was inevitable, now it was time for her to face her fears. The end was nigh and it seemed sad that their time together as a trio had to end in such a cold and boring place such as an airport compared to the many adventures that has fought through together. When it was time to say their final Hermione could feel herself breaking on the inside, falling into a million pieces as she saw them go; she gave them all a very large hug whilst tears streamed down her face and left wet marks on each of their clothing. She left Ron for last and after sharing one last group hug with him and Harry that seemed to only last a second she gave him a light peck on the cheek (something she had never done before) ,he blushed the violent red that she had become so used to ,then turned on the spot to catch up with his waiting family. Not having any guarantee she would never see their smiling faces or knitted jumpers again hit her very hard, she was on the verge of shattering. She only had one more thing worth fighting for and that was Harry Potter.

However, that was just the start; the worst was still were to come just one day later when Harry told her the words that would make the pieces that held her together shatter onto the floor; he would be leaving.

They were staying in The Leaky Cauldron until school began Hermione was just heading out to get her new robes;

'_Hermione, I've got to tell you something, don't get mad, please, just hear me out'_

'_What is it Harry?' she replied sitting down on her bed looking up at him expectantly. He came and sat next to her and looked her straight in the eyes. _

'_Ron's departure made me realise that I have to do something about Voldemort, I can't keep on letting people flee from their homes because he has threatened them. That's not fair, it's ruining lives. 'He kept eye contact with her through this whole speech._

'_I agree that it is wrong Harry, we all know that. But what are you implying?'_

'_I'm leaving Hermione, I'm going after him. I have an idea where most of the Horcruxes are and I'm going alone. I am not letting this disrupt your studies and I want you to be safe. However, I do think that we will need to keep regular owls to each other as you are the smartest and you will be inside Hogwarts. I am not going back there Hermione, I am so sorry, I know you don't need this after Ron's departure but I know what is right; I've thought it all through and I am leaving today. I need to get away from here, I need to stop him'._

'_Harry, stop! What do you mean; you can't leave me, not here, not on my own!' she told him as she tried to decipher his word as they made no sense to her. She was desperately trying to keep calm but she could feel herself going into hysterics whilst he questioned her eyes._

'_I'm sorry, I've got to go' with that he picked up him cloak, lightly kissed my forehead and left, shutting the door quietly behind him; he didn't even let her put up a fight. She needed to go; she couldn't do this on her own. She didn't give a damn about her studies, what use were they in a broken world anyway? No matter, she was frozen in place unable to chase after him as she so much wanted to do, so she just sat there for an immeasurable length of time, time meaning nothing. It was not until she heard a knock at the door calling room service and she wiped her hand over her face that she realised that she was crying. _

Back to the present she wiped her hand over her face again, reliving the memory. Again she saw that a single tear was on her hand. After that tears rolled down her cheeks at an unstoppable pace, each falling onto her lap where her hands were ringed tight. That was it, she was left all alone.

Just then she heard the door open and to her horror she saw who was standing in it. Then she felt her heart drop – her life was now officially over.

'Granger?'

'Malfoy?'

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><p><strong>What was it like; good, terrible ? Please Read and Review to help me improve! Do you want me to continue this story?<strong>


	2. The Perfect Start

**Hey guys, here is chapter 2 of Miss You Too. No reviews at all though :( However, on the up side THANK YOU SOOOOOOO MUCH to; HopelessRomantic31 and AuthorAnonymous35 for adding this story to their Story Alerts. I give you both a huge cyber hug!**

**You may have also noticed the chapters now have names for them.**

**So without further a do I present you with chapter two... :) wow that kind of rhymes :) **

**Happy Reading!**

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><p>'What do you think you're doing here, mudblood?' Draco snared as he stood in the doorway of the carriage dressed in his pristine slytherin robes with a large, new head boy badge attached in pride position on his breast pocket. He had one hand pressed so hard against the door frame you could see the bones under his knuckles turn white under the pressure. The rest of his body was leant in slack position against the open door making him looking confident and endearing. He looked much too sleek and pristine for the old Hogwarts Express that had been running the running across the British countryside for hundreds of years transporting thousands of young witched and wizards, pure-blood and mud blood alike.<p>

'Just about to ask you the same thing, you can't seriously be Head Boy; you're a death eater for heaven's sake!' Hermione quickly snapped; she had soon got used to the snide comments of her family's past that Malfoy usually associated with her.

'Hold your tongue, Granger. What do you know about the requirements for the Head Students? - Not a lot by the way you look, and for your information I got been appointed to head boy six days ago, but what the hell was Snape thinking? Granger - a mudblood- head girl! I thought he had some respect. Are you sure you read your letter right? Are you sure it said you are definitely NOT head girl?' He spat at her, still staying in his position in the door frame, only his face showed any signs of animation.

'Very funny Malfoy, if you really feel the need to be in here sit down and shut up before I have a sudden urge to hit you, remember third year?'

'Oh, i'm so very scared!' Malfoy answered sarcastically before sauntering over to the seat opposite Hermione in the furthest corner of the carriage so he was as far away from her as possible in the confined space.

For the first few minutes it was very awkward between the head students as they were both tring avoid each other menacing gazes. Once or twice Draco's hand twitched towards his polished wand in his inside cloak pocket. It would so easily for him to put a simple little hex on her for the journey, just too really piss her off. After the original strong urge of anger subsided it was easier to resist the temptation.

After that they completely ignored each other the whole trip; Herminoie began reading a book, however for the first time in her life she couldn't concentrate on reading and she just couldn't get into her book so matter how hard she tried, so she spent the most of the journey thinking about what a mess her life was in instead. This did not make time pass any faster but at least it gave her so much to think about that she didn't have to worry about the other figure sitting just meters away from her.

Draco just sat for the whole journey inspecting an old book with worn binding and stained black front cover and a title so faded that Hermione couldn't read from so close , she knew this because she had immediately tried to assess the book Draco was reading as soon as her brought it out. He retrieved from his new black briefcase, soon after Hermione retrieved hers from her worn satchel. He tossed it meaninglessly between his hands, reading small extracts from many different points in the book, now and again he would also stroke the front or back cover with his cold and bony fingers.

Although Hermione tried not to care she was highly aware of his presence in the cabin just out of touching distance away from her and his gaze which kept flickering up at her.

They both felt relieved when the train came to a halt at Hogwarts as they were both gagging for some fresh air after the thick tension on the long train ride. Draco quickly slid into formation with Crabbe, Goyle and a load of other Slytherins' flanking him and starting moaning loudly about how disgraceful the choice for Head Girl was.

However, Hermione was alone for the first time ever as she stepped out on onto the platform, so she went to made small talk with Neville as soon as she spotting him walking slowly to the carriages, dragging his feet on the way. She asked him if he had seen Luna but he had little reply, saying he hadn't seen her all day nor over the holidays. This didn't seem like him at all as normally he was all too happy to talk to her, especially about Dumbledore's Army and the adventures they had shared - but today he was sidetracked. Hermione decided to let it be, so she set to work on organising the first years, a job Malfoy had managed to forget to oversee as one of his duties.

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Hermione felt tired and very lonely as she walked into the great hall for the first time since first year on her own. What made it worse was that she had to sit side by side with Draco on the top table with the school prefects; great. This was a mutual feeling shared with Draco as he sauntered over to the table ten minutes after everybody else to be greeted by a grumpy looking Granger; perfect. Both students, however, did not care about showing their feelings towards each other to rest of the school. They made this clear throughout the meal when they both ate in utter silence both making no effort to socialise with the other; this went on for around an hour as the meal progressed, but for them time dragged as slow as ever and felt like time had stopped in their presence.

Malfoy talked fluently to the Slytherin prefects about their hopes for the Quidditch Cup this year now that Potter was a no show (although of course he would never admit that Potter was the downfall of Slytherin's triumph in the game). Hermione did not care for trying to talk to the Gryffindor prefects as she hardly knew their names and they both seemed to in a deep and animated conversation with the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff students.

This seemed to carry on for what thought like hours, but finally after all the desserts were eaten and students had began to have no more gossip left over from the holidays the speeches began. First, as always, was the headmaster; Snape.

He stood on the platform at the front of the Great Hall in his unusual black attire, his presence dominating the front of the hall and seeming to cast clouds over the enchanted sky above. His shoulder-length black hair was in its normal greasy mess and looked lank as it covered his sullen cheeks, framing his face in a stern line showing no emotion. Once he stood up the whole school sunk into silence but the feeling in the different areas around the Great Hall were all very different.

The Slytherins, including Malfoy, were smiling at him in awe as if he was some sort of idol, whilst others smirked at the rest of the not-so-happy school. Gryffindor especially all looked miserable as it was well known that Professor Snape had an unjustified prejudice against them. Even the new unknowing first years mirrored their elders in the life-less look in their eyes.

'As you all know, I am the new head of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry and I will be taking over from the temporary cover of Professor McGonagall who will now be my deputy' Snape began in his dreary ,cold voice that penetrated through the hall and bounced against the walls. He slightly pointed his large left hard behind him when he mentioned McGonagall, but apart from this he was still. The unexpected news of the deputy brightened up the miserable school no end and gossips and whispers began to break out, until...

'Quiet! I will be doing things a little differently from you last few leaders. It will be to benefit your education and skills that you take away from this school as well as making sure you all get back on track from your unsteady handling from the past...'

'Finally, somebody who understands what a dump this place used to be under the care of that wretched old man Dumbledore and his top pupil Potter, thank Merlin that he died; I couldn't face another year of his pathetic nonsense' Draco slyly whispered to the senior prefect of Slytherin.

That was too much for Hermione; she grasped her wand from inside her cloak and pointed it directly under Draco's stark chin.

'Take that back Malfoy, now' she said in an angry yet hushed voice as she looked him straight in his eyes.

'I am just speaking the truth, mud blood. Of course you would support that old loony as ...'

'NOW!' she interrupted him in a raised voice, she was now just inches away from his face, she could hear his relaxed breathing whist he could smell a light whiff of her disgusting muggle perfume.

'Oh, I'm so scared!' Draco jokily said, but this just aggravated her more and she dug in her wand so hard that it delved deeper into his neck and the pale skin around the tip of the wand started to go red and looked like it was about to split under the pressure. Draco ignored this.

'Making a bit of a fool of yourself aren't you Granger?' He sniggered, knowing he had caught her.

Looking at the expression marked upon his Hermione slowly turned into the silent hall behind her , but making sure her wand stayed in its dangerous position under Draco's as this was her only hold on him.

She soon wished she hadn't as greeting her when she turned was hundreds of faces all staring at her. Some of them, predominately Slytherins were watching on in excitement hoping that a fight would break out and that Granger would get expelled .However the rest of the school all had the same expression on their adolescent faces, pure shock; their eyes were wide and their mouths were all positioned into a neat 'o' shape. This alone made Hermione blush a deep scarlet. She then saw the teachers as they looked on at her in horror as the new Head Girl threatened the new head boy after an unheard conversation. What frightened them more was they all knew Hermione was a very intelligent witch and could do a lot more damage than she let on. So much worse than all of the hundreds of faces in the great hall was Snape's as he looked at her with those piercing black eyes as he spoke;

'Lower your wand' he said slowly and precisely. Hermione quickly obeyed, as she did this she heard Draco behind her quietly trying to muffle a laugh behind his hand.

'My office, now' he said, his face still expressionless but glaring at her so intently that she swore he was looking straight into her soul. Despite his cover she could tell he was angry, no not angry; fuming.

Hermione hastily turned around and swiftly picked up her bags and books before glaring at Malfoy, who was now in near hysterics, before rushing out of the hall.

She walked down the centre aisle as her face stayed a constant bright scarlet as she tried to block out the laughs that echoed in the hall around her and the thousands of eyes that followed her every movement. After what seemed like an age she made it to the heavy wooden doors, they opened silently before her and once out of them she almost ran out of sight; but not before looking at Draco one more time who was staring intensely at her. The doors then closed behind her as she was left alone in the corridor staring at the space were Draco's face could have been seen just seconds before; laughing at her pain. 

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><p><strong>There it is, chapter 2 ! Hope you liked it. I would really appreciate some constructive crisitsim or any advice to help me with my writting. That way you just a better story and I become a better writter, everybody wins!<strong>


	3. Tired Of It All

**Disclaimer: The characters and all the ideas belong to J.K. Rowling. Anything new or different belongs to me!**

**Hey guys, here is chapter three. I know it is shorter than normal but I only added what I thought was needed. This chapter is dedicated to Jajacques for being the first and only ever reviewer of Miss You Too. Hope you enjoy this chapter : )**

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><p>Draco sauntered to the Head's dormitory still smugly grinning as the picture of Hermione's tomato red face and her pathetic excuse of a scowl that was sketched across her face kept replaying again and again in his mind. He chuckled darkly to himself as he remembered the way she attempted to storm out of the hall looking strong and co-ordinated whilst all the students looked on at her, some in enjoyment whilst others had pure surprise written all over their faces, that moment was priceless.<p>

What made it even better was that it was his fault that she had to go through that embarrassment! He was the reason that she had made a right idiot of herself in front of the whole school and all it's teachers, even Professor Snape, she was sure to lose some of their valuable trust now. Hermione Granger the 'perfect student' had just been sent to the headmaster's office due to exceptionally bad and uncalled for behaviour on the very first day before the first years had been there for two hours. What a role model for the younger students! She deserved it though, he thought smugly to himself, the cheek she had to question his opinion on that stupid old man; Dumbledore. What did she know about the real man that was Albus Dumbledore? She was only very prejudiced towards him because she was best friends with Potter and Potter practically worshiped the man.

Where was the hell, was he anyway? Potter? He knew the Weasley's had fled because they were cowards, but where was petty Potter? He probably went with them as he was too scared to fight on his own without his little friends there to look after him. Merlin, that boy was weak.

He made his way down the familiar corridors that had been walked on a thousand times over as he made his way to his new home; the head's dormitory. The only problem was that he had to share it with Granger, however the opportunity for getting her into even more trouble this year was just too tempting not to resist, maybe she would be something amusing to concentrate on this year.

He was under so much stress from a million different sources right now; maybe Granger could be his little bit of rest-bite from the rest of the world. The one thing he could do that meant he didn't have to follow strict orders that if they were not completed you would be guaranteed a heavy dose of the unforgivable curses.

It seemed like just days ago that he was sitting in the classroom with Mad-Eye Moody in forth year when Moody had been demonstrating what the three unforgivable curses where and how horrific they could, but now three years they seemed much too familiar. He was forced to endure the pain of these curses all the time when he disobeyed his orders; his own father had become his single worst nightmare. Every time he closed his eyes he would see an exact copy of his pale face, it was stern and cold and full of disappointment that just flowed from the image and invaded Draco's mind.

In the past few months he had tried so hard to become what his father wanted him to be, what he was breed to be; a death eater. Now he was of age he had a 'duty' and that was to kill, cause pain and to hurt people emotionally and physically. However, no matter how hard he tried he couldn't face the thought of having to look some decent yet innocent man in the eyes and see the light leave them as he ended their life, their final look of pleading and innocent wishes followed through him every time he saw their eyes. He had gotten out of it so many times before, but now it was becoming more obvious and every time he disobeyed and let somebody escape he had to pay the price as he was the individual that was responsible. On the outside he was cold, hard and confident but on the inside he was fighting a constant battle with his family, with himself. He was Draco Malfoy and Malfoy's were not soft and petty, he had to be stricter on himself. This year he would really try to be the person he was meant to be.

He had now reached the entrance to his new quarters, to let himself in he had to tap the statue of a fire-bolt dragon made from red marble and say the daily password; today's was 'enchanted goose bumps '. Once this was said the large watercolour painting of the lake painted in deep acrylics on the right side of the statue would swiftly swing open to reveal his new home for the upcoming year.

Draco didn't really care much for what his eyes showed him inside the room. He had lived in the highly luxurious Malfoy Manor all of his life and he had always been used to the best so the expensive drapes and rich colours that crossed his eyes where not too surprising to him. Although even he had to admit that it was much better than his shared common room he had inhabited for the past six years with three other boys, and having his own room would definitely be an improvement than room that belonged to four; but to be honest he wasn't all that surprised at the luxuries at his disposal – he was the Head Boy of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry after all – he deserved the best.

As soon as he let himself in the main room he went straight to the door on his left hand side of the square room which, he assumed, was his room as it had layer after layer of rich, dark green cloth draped above it. Once inside his new room he dumped his cloak on the double bed and went over to inspect the view from the window – this was area he valued most of the whole room as it meant most to him.

Growing up in the manor had been very restricted to him and he had never had a room with a window as his farther disagreed with the idea of him getting distracted by the gardens underneath and the chance of people looking in on him from the other side. His only acquaintance with the garden was when his father was rarely out and his mother would sneak him into a hidden passage where there laid a single large bay window. This was a little escape and he knew the view so well even though he had only seen it no more than three times in his life as his farther was very strict, he felt as if he could paint an exact replica of that view just from his memory.

However, since being at Hogwarts he relished the opportunity of having a large, open window to look out from, a place where he could forget all his trouble and cares. Dread suddenly seeped through him as he realised that this year he would need its relaxing qualities more than ever before.

Just as he was beginning to slip in the numbness that Draco willed so much to come he heard a door heavily slamming that made him startle.

'Damn you Granger' he muttered under his breath, he really didn't want to have to socialise with her right now so he moved over to the large double bed in the centre of the room. He lay on it right in the middle with him arms clenched around his waist whilst his feet kicked off his expensive Italian shoes. He was still fully clothed in his uniform but he didn't care, he just willed the darkness to overcome him, but his simple wish was not too granted as he lay there for what thought like hours just tracing the grains in the mahogany wood above his head with his eyes.

It was not until he concentrated on what he could hear rather than what he could see that he realised that he could hear a distant sobbing - Granger. He deliberated storming into her room and hexing her into a silencing charm just to shut her up as he was not in the mood to have to listen to hear cry about all her 'problems', as he was sleep deprived, stressed and on the very edge of waking her up from her little crying montage and shouting at her just because he felt like he had to find someone to let all his anger out on. Even if she was a dirty mud blood at least she might listen if he was lucky, or at the very least shout back for interrupting her privacy.

He didn't see what major problems anyone like her could ever have that would amount to her hysteria. What did she have to worry about? Did Snape scare poor, little, petty Hermione Granger too much? What a hard life she had to live! He sarcastically thought to himself. She didn't have a clue what pain, torture and problems meant - what could be so bad in her perfect muggle life. He had never cried after all he has been through as he had always fought back the tears to show no lack of strength or emotional control, and here she was crying all the tears she could muster just because of one little telling off, she was so pathetic it was almost sad.

However, luckily for her, Draco really couldn't be bothered to go find her or have to share any sort of contact with her to be honest, so he lay down one more time in hope of sleep eventually coming to take him away. This time he didn't have to wait the hours, as all at once the hours of missed sleep he had been losing over the past months suddenly caught up with him and he was fully unconsciousness within seconds of his head hitting the soft pillow.

However on the other side of the wall Hermione wasn't having the same luck. She cried until the night ran dry and it was light enough to be called morning.

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><p><strong>So what did you think? Did you like itlove it/ hate it. I would really appreciate some tips/constructive criticism or any other thoughts. Did I get Draco's character write because I was a little bit worried about the way I portrayed him, what did you think of him?The more the reviews the quicker the next chapter will be up... **

**Reviews make me want to write and if I write then you get your chapters. Everybody wins!**


	4. On The Other Side of The Wall

**Disclaimer: This conuts for the WHOLE story. As much as i wish i do i DO NOT own Harry Potter, but I do own some parts of this story line : )**

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**I have also decided to try and update every Sunday as this seems to be the time when I get the best response, but this might vary depending on the time I have to write. This chapter is longer than the past ones; I am really working on improving their length. So here you go, here is Chapter 4 of Miss You Too...**

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><p>Hermione's shrieks of emotional pain rang through the walls of Professor Snape's office – also known as the head teacher's office. The past, deceased head teachers in the moving portraits including Professor Dumbledore looked on in pure disappointment and disgust as they looked on at the scene in front of them, some had even left and moved to other paintings to escape the scene that they had to look onto. The skilled silencing charms that were cast around the room kept Hermione's grief captured within its walls so it would not escape into the rest of the school building and others would not have any reason to come looking for her.<p>

Severus Snape sat in the head master's chair that had been perched upon by many a great wizard over the last hundreds of years whilst pointing his 11 inch elm wand directly at Hermione's body. He kept constant eye contact with her chocolate brown eyes as he muttered the spell 'revileo pessimus monumentum'.

Hermione had her eyes tightly squeezed shut but never the less, it was still easy to see that on the inside she was fighting a battle with the pictures that flashed across her closed eyelids. Her shrieks pierced the silence as they escaped uncontrollably out of her mouth as she tried to fight back and escape the images being forced into her mind by her old potions professor.

Finally after two minutes of pure torture Snape removed his wand from its ninety degree angle directly pointed at her body and laid it on the deep mahogany desk in front of him all in one, quick but swift movement.

Hermione literally collapsed onto the floor in relief and strained to open her eyes to look questionably into those of the man in front of her in hope she would get the answer to her question of why, which could be easily seen written across her face.

'Now Ms. Granger I hope that has little experiment has enlightened you about how very lucky you are to be here, and how different this school is going to be from now on under my new very careful supervision. You must quickly realise that from now on Hogwarts will be a place of discipline and achievement and new enforcements are now being put into place to ensure this is completed without any interruption or hesitation. You will not show any more disrespect to me or any other of my students as I am sure by the sound of your shrieks that you do not want to experience any of my teachings methods again, however I will not hesitate to punish you for your actions if you fail to obey by my rules.' He left a short pause to stare at her before carrying on from where he left off.

'Now go and do not let me hear of your insolent and uncalled for behaviour again, I made an informed choice about you being Head Girl as my colleges gave high appraisal of you and I could not change their opinion, as in a school like this one trust is a necessary ingredient. Do not let me hear of your misconduct again as next time I may not take the time choosing and performing your punishment myself and I can assure you, Ms. Granger, that many other of the highly qualified professors at this school will not be so forgiving as I have been in their methods' Snape said in an unemotional and cold voice that articulated every word to perfection so that he made sure that each sentence was completed and understood.

Without a second look back Hermione picked herself up of the cold stone floor that she had fallen too and breathlessly dragged herself out of the doorway; out of the torture chamber that was so called the 'Headmasters Quarters'.

Once she was out of the doorway and down the steps that descended from the room, she ran. She ran as fast as she could manage in her broken and breathless state. She did not care at all for the students who looked on at her as she pasted them in running such a state; some students stared at her because of the way she looked, some stared at her because of the speed she was moving at in stark contrast to the normally silent and calm corridors of Hogwarts, whilst others just looked on her remembering the show she had put on for them in the Great Hall just twenty minutes before.

Hermione's breathing was so hard and heavy that it covered up most of the other sounds that she would have been able to hear around the castle if she had been walking down the corridor as quietly as she would normally have. However, considering her situation Hermione was very glad of the fact that she couldn't hear as it seemed so odd and out of place that students could be laughing and joking with each other in such a carefree state when she was in such a drastically different mood. She was glad she didn't have to endure laughs and sniggers from fellow Hogwarts students as she ran past them in such a hurry to get some privacy so she could completely meltdown. She was also very much relieved the lessons did not begin until the next morning as she knew that she could not face them like this.

She flew up the moving staircases and every time she had to wait for one to come to her she would hold on to the nearest wall and gasp desperately to try to catch her breath. She had an aching stitch in the left side of her petite waist but she hardly felt the pain, all she could think about was getting away from what she had just seen and felt.

After what seemed like an age she finally made it to the entry of the south facing turret on the fourth floor; her new bedroom. She grasped her wand out of her inner robe pocket that had been billowing behind her the whole time she had been running, slowing her down. She nearly shouted the words she had been repeating to herself since she had been released out of Snape's office so she would not forget them.

'Enchanted goose bumps' she shouted at the marble dragon statue using up all the leftover energy she could muster.

It seemed to take the large picture a very long time to open wide enough for Hermione to quickly slip through the small gap, but when she did het through she almost ran to the right hand door which she quickly assumed was hers as the door was open. Engraved onto its wooden surface was a Gryffindor Dragon that proudly paced from left to right across the door and soundlessly roared to show that the door was left open, thus when the door is looked the lion would curl up and sleep until the door was open.

When she was finally inside the room she had been aiming for she slammed the door loudly behind her just before she literally fell against the back of it; pressing all of her body weight against it. Her reasons for this were to try to keep anything from coming in; even though she new nothing could or would. She was finally safe. Another reason for her action was that she was absolutely shattered and she could not support her full bodyweight any longer.

She stood there, her arms outstretched across the width of the door and her eyes closed so that the room was so silent that all that could be heard was her ragged breathing, until her legs literally gave way beneath her weight and she found herself kneeling on the floor her head in her hands. That was when the tears that she had been holding back for the last few days finally erupted, and when she let them come they just wouldn't stop flowing.

At first they were soundless and stuck in her throat as all she could seem to think about was what Snape had just clearly penetrated into her mind, sticking it there like it was made of glue.

The spell 'revileo pessimus monumentum', she soon found out, was a new dark method of torture. It was a particular spell that painful to every single person it was put on, but at individual degrees of pain to each, this means that to some people it would be barley more than a bad dream but to others it was having all of your nightmares come rushing onto you all at once. Unfortunately the common rule with this spell was that the better the person you are the more it would hurt, and unfortunately as Hermione had spent the last seven years searching for peace as part of the 'golden trio' she had in one of its worst forms as she had spent a lot her time and courage fighting for what is right.

'Revileo pessimus monumentum' would decapitate its victims by making them re-live all of the bad things that had happened to them in their lives; it was an incredibly personal spell and although the wizard that cast it could not see what the victim was seeing, it was normally obvious by looking at their body actions about how bad the pictures that flashed across their eyes normally were. When the spell was cast its victim would stay fully conscious, so they would be fully aware about what was going on around them, however for some the spell was too much and many victims begged for death due to the pictures and memories that flashed across their minds.

Thankfully Hermione Granger was a very strong witch that did not let out her emotions out easily as she preferred to keep them locked away from others to see, but unfortunately for her the way that her short life had panned out meant that she saw horrors much worse than most had to endure in a lifetime. The most prominent of them had been the recent ones with the departure of Ron and Harry, but others from her short live escaped into there as well. She saw the dead bodies of Cedric Diggory and Albus Dumbledore, she saw the hope fall out of Harry's eyes when Sirius had been lost and the light that had emerged in the eyes of Avery as he grabbed her during the break-in to the department of mysteries with Dumbledore's army as he held his wand to her throat in hope of getting to murder her innocent muggle-born body. The memories kept travelling back to the precise moment before the Basilisk stunned her and when Remus Lupin as a werewolf chased after her and Harry in the forbidden forest seeking them purely for their blood. She also saw images of before she knew of her life of a witch, she re-lived the moment when had just heard the news of her grandfathers unexpected death when she was five and how she had sat on her mother's lap for hours afterwards until she was dizzy from crying.

Snape could not have picked a worse punishment for Hermione to endure as so many things in her life had been taken away from her in the past few days, months, years.

She lay on the floor of her new room with her head buried deep into the thick carpet and her arms wrapped protectively around her waist. Her sobs were now increasing in noise level and she was rapidly becoming more and more hysterical. Her eyes were clasped tightly shut whilst her mind wandered and replayed her horrific memories over and over again, reminded her of what she had lost.

Her mouth was open but she couldn't breathe in clear air as her head was buried deeply into the thick carpet on the floor so she turned herself over and gapped her mouth wide open so she could gasp for wanted air. Sylvia around her mouth stuck her lips together in a sticky mess that was highly susceptible for her hair to be stuck in so that it strew across her face, covering it like a blanket. She knew she could not stay lying on the floor forever, she knew that she would eventually have to sort herself out and clean herself up, so she tried.

She slowly and unsteadily got herself up whilst she tried to contain her tears as they kept following down her cheeks, obscuring her vision so the world around her was just a dark blurry mess. She stumbled over to the full-length mirror to see what looked like and if she looked as bad as she felt, she looked worse. Much worse. She soon wished she had not bothered to move, as it just had made her begin crying all over again.

The girl staring back at her was not the clean, tidy girl that she normally saw; in fact she couldn't think of a time she had looked in the mirror and seen such an ugly face staring back at her. Her bright eyes were blood-shot a deep red where they were normally white; they were surrounded by puffy red eyelids that her framed in wet, sticky eyelashes. Her cheeks were red and bumpy where the pattern from the carpet had transferred itself onto them and held tear stains all the way down them marking her face with salty streaks. Her normally tame hair looked messy, thick and un-brushed that was surely to be a consequence of her lying on the floor and running half-way across the school. To add to this her whole body was shaking uncontrollably; she didn't know whether this was from her hysteria, shock or of the adrenaline of the events that had happened in the past few hours. She would definitely in need of a long shower tomorrow, but not tonight, she was to physically and emotionally drained.

However, seeing herself so broken in the mirror made her feel physically sick so she climbed onto her new bed, still fully clothed, and laid her head against the luxurious pillows. Even though she failed to notice the luxury she was lying in as she was so caught up in her thoughts.

She didn't know how long she laid there for; sobbing and thinking, thinking and sobbing, but she knew that it was probably most of the night.

Every time she tried to fall asleep she would remember and would have to start all over again. No matter how hard she hoped, though, went the darkness finally overtook her body she felt no relief as her problems that formed in her reality just followed one quick step behind her into her nightmares.

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><p><strong>Like it love it/ hate it? I was a bit worried if I portrayed Hermione right as this chapter showed quite a lot of her emotions, do you think it suited her character? Did you like the new spell? I really appreciate any sort of advice or constructive criticism. Let's beat the 2 reviews I had on the last chapter.**

**More advice means that my writing improves which means you get a better quality story, another reason why everybody wins if you review!**


	5. Dusted Cobwebs

**Disclaimer: This is my last disclaimer that I am going to write, so it implies to the whole story. I DO NOT own Harry Potter (as wonderful as that would be!) so the only thing I do own is any parts of the plot that is unique to me.**

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><p>He awoke with a start, his white hair stuck to his sticky, sweaty forehead whilst his fist's uncontrollably clenched and unclenched. This made his nails dig deeply into his palms making stinging red marks across their pale surface. His uniform tightly stuck to his muscular body making it uncomfortable and itchy that just made him want to rip it straight off. It's tight material made him feel hot and claustrophobic as well as making him feel like he was trapped and enclosed in the fabric.<p>

Draco Malfoy did not sleep well; he was continuously tossing and turning the previous night and although he was very tired his mind just wouldn't clear enough for him to relax and fall asleep peacefully.

When he finally concentrated on being fully awake he felt slightly delirious as he had absolutely no idea where he was, then it began to become clearer and he remembered where he was; he was at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry in the Head Boy's bedroom. The next event that came to his mind were the events of last night; when Granger had stomped out of the great hall in front of the whole school with her face flushed red with embarrassment. Things were becoming more clear as his mind was slowing reawakening himself as next he remembered the crying last night and the nightmares which he fell asleep too ; the nightmares were to vivid in his mind. What came last to him was what the coming year held, and it wasn't the lessons that bothered him.

'Shit' he mumbled to himself before his head fell back on the pillow with a hollow thump, just the thought of his upcoming year was enough to make anyone curse.

Almost an hour later Draco Malfoy awoke again after what seemed like a very quick after-sleep, but this time he had a clearer state of mind. As soon as his heavy eyelids opened he quickly arose from his crumpled bed and had an ice-cold shower in hope that it would wake him up and stimulate him for the school day that lay ahead.

Whilst he was dressing himself in his new Slithering robes that included him brand new 'Head Boy' badge he heard the striking of the bell from the clock tower. It only rung six times meaning that it was still only six o'clock in the morning, however as he didn't want to spend time in his room he grabbed his books for the day and left his room, leaving his bed unmade for the elves.

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Hermione slowly opened her heavy eyes and scrunched them straight back up at the light that flooded through the open curtains in her room, showing the newly breaking dawn. Her face was stiff and achy due to salted tears that had stayed there all night from her previous downpour of tears. She generally felt groggy, tired and a complete mess , meaning that the lessons that lay ahead for her later in the day did not even once cross her mind.

After waking up for a matter of confused seconds she laid her heavy head back onto the warm pillow.

She was just falling back into the numb oblivion of sleep when the bell from the grand clock tower began to ring; every time it rang the noise that radiated from it seemed to become louder and louder as it penetrated through her ears.

She searched for a pillow behind her head and she grabbed it so that her head fell back on the mattress with a small thud, she pulled the soft pillow over her head and pressed it tightly over her eyes and ears to try to block out her senses so she could just fall asleep again. Even with the pillow over her ears she could still easily recognize the loud ringing that came from the famous large bell, so she sub-consciously counted the amount of times it rang; it came to eight.

Her eyes flew wide open on the eighth ring.

'Shoot' she muttered under her breath.

Eight o'clock; she had overslept by a whole hour; she had completely lost track of time and deserted her strict school time schedule that she had always kept. Eight o'clock that meant she only had half an hour to get to her first lesson of the year that was halfway across the school.

What a great way to start her final year at Hogwarts as head girl; being thrown out of the school assembly, being tortured by the headmaster, having a complete emotional breakdown and oversleeping by an whole hour which consequently meant she was to have no breakfast. Not to mention the small problem of a certain fellow Head Boy named Draco Malfoy.

Suddenly awakened from her groggy and tired state she nearly flew out of bed with a small thumb as her feet make contact with the soft carpet beneath them. Once she was standing straight she experienced a rather strong shot of head rush meaning that she walked ,rather dizzily and unstably, over to her trunk which had magically been transported to her room since her arrival, whilst collecting her wand which had been left abandoned alone on the floor sometime last night.

She whispered her secret password under her breath which unlocked her large suitcase, and then she began rummaging through her neatly packed luggage for her school robes and her shower toiletries. She was so stressed about her time problem that she could not find anything she wanted in the depths of her all her property.

'For Merlin's sake' she muttered in a frustrated manor as she gave up looking and she used her wand to retrieve her items. She didn't know why she hadn't thought of that before – her brain was still not functioning as smoothly as normal.

Nearly running into the bathroom she quickly stripped down and got straight in the double shower which stood in the grand room, which also included a large roll-top bath – she was definitely looking forward to using that throughout the year. She could only imagine what it would be like to lie in there with bubbles up to her neck and hot water scented with lavender, she would also cast a ambience spell on the room to give the illusion that warm candles where placed all over the room.

The warm water in the shower seemed to calm her down a little and she massaged her back and neck muscles, trying to undo the knots that had developed in her body overnight as she had slept in such an awkward position. She could have easily stayed there for hours, but she was keeping to a very tight schedule so after only a few short minutes in the shower and she got herself out and dressed in her neatly ironed robes; making sure that her Head Girl badge was securely fastened in pride position on her front pocket.

She looked in the bathroom mirror as she quickly pulled a brush through her wet hair before casting a quick spell to immediately dry it. She then vigorously brushed her teeth whilst she was continually brushing her hair – a skill that had taken her six years of early school mornings to master.

She clipped her uncontrollable brown curls into submission behind her ears to save time and hassle instead of putting it into a more intricate style which she was planning on doing on her first day to make a good impression. Then, leaving her towel crumpled and abandoned on the wooden bathroom floor, she went into her main bedroom to check what she looked like overall.

She felt much fresher, tidier and more awake than before; thankfully this reflected in her appearance. The calming warm water of the shower had done it's job and she looked a lot more clean and respectable – so much so that an unknowing outsider who didn't know what had happened last night might mistake her for just being any other average student. Her clothes looked neat and fitted her well as they were knew and overall she was quite happy that she didn't look a complete mess, as she had that she would anticipated.

The only thing that was wrong with the young girl's reflection that could be seen in the full-length mirror was her face. Her mouth was in a straight line, neither happy nor sad, and her cheeks were sullen back in bones making her look gaunt and tired. Her eyes were distant and sad and seemed to have lost their life and meaning, even when she strained her muscles to make her lips smile it did not reach her eyes. Hopefully nobody would notice this detail; it was not as if she had any more proper friends to point out her smile anymore.

After approving of her look she grabbed her bag, tucked her books neatly under her left arm and made her way out of her bedroom to see if there was a clock in the shared space so she could know the time.

The lion on her door slowly rose up from its sleeping position when she unlocked the door and walked out, but she did not notice this detail as when she stepped out her doorway she was amazed as what she had laid her eyes on.

She knew that being head girl meant that she would have her own bedroom and bathroom compared to the one she was used to sharing with three over students, but what she did not anticipate was the luxury of her accommodation.

In her state last night her new surroundings had swiftly passed her by as she failed to take any notice of them. However, now in the clear daylight of the morning she could really appreciate what she had failed to see the night before as she got her first proper look at her new sort of 'shared common room'.

Directly opposite her bedroom door was one exactly the same apart from that instead of a lion on it a muscled snake was slithering from side to side; this signified that nobody was inside the room. She let out a small sigh of relief knowing that she would not have to face Malfoy this morning. Above the door were layers of heavy, thick silver and green material draped in elegant curves.

The entire south facing wall of the room was completely made up of windows. This meant that you had a constant one hundred and eighty degree view over Hogwarts grounds. Hermione absentmindedly laid her bag on the floor at her feet and walked over to the windows to admire the view, and with the sun rising behind the blanket of trees making up the forest the view was positively beautiful. This was definitely her new favourite part of the whole room.

The windows were framed in thick, elegant drapes in a rich plum colour that made the room feel very homely and cosy to balance out the open feeling made by the windows. In the east brick wall was also a large built-in fire place that appeared in all the common rooms. In the dead of winter she knew this room would be very warm and toasty and the perfect to place to spend long nights enjoying a good book by fire light.

The actual room itself was furnished with predominately mahogany furniture that included a large desk in the corner of the room that was a polished a deep yet rich chocolate colour with an area for the user to store their quill and their ink pot when working. The legs of the desk were crafted into lion paws with intricate detailing on the claws and fur, at the bottom of one of the legs was a neat basket with parchment in, much like a basket you would store fire wood in. The parchment had already been cut into various sizes, probably a kind elves work – she let out a small sign reminiscing her past struggle for elf rights.

However, as there was only one desk, and she assumed Malfoy's room was similar to hers and did not have a desk in it, no matter how beautiful the desk was it could potentially problematic. She knew that Malfoy did not make regular visits to the library so she assumed that he would take immediate ownership of the desk and to avoid any more uncalled for arguments between them she would let him use it. Anyhow, she enjoyed going to the school library as she knew where all the secluded desks were in the corner of the room where she would never get disturbed and as this was NEWT year she knew she would have a workload heavier than ever.

Work. School. Lessons.

'Damn it' she nearly shouted as she remembered the lessons she was meant to be on her way too. She had got so distracted with all the little things in the room that she had completely forgotten about the time. She quickly searched the stone walls for a clock.

She found a large, wooden clock levitating just above the mantle piece of the open fire, it read eight thirty two. She was late.

Hermione grabbed her school bag and books from where she had dumped them on the floor when she had been cooing over the beauty of the room and literally sprinted out of the room without even closing the portrait behind her.

She was in such a hurry to get to her first lesson that she missed the tawny owl that had flew in through the open window when she was not concentrating. In the beak of the owl was a faded letter addressed to '_Otter'._

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><p><strong>So what did you think? I know there was not much action but I roughly planned out the chapters for this fan-fiction and realised that it is going to be a very long haul. I hope that is ok ?<strong>

**Do you have any ideas/ favourite lines or quotes/ areas for improvment? Every single review is really appreciated. Go on, make my day : )**

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	6. Cursed Smirks

**HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART 2! Who has seen it? What did you think of it? The most epic film of the decade! But it does make me cry (not just because the deaths : ( but becauses it is the end! How can it be the end, Harry Potter will never end!) . Which part was your favourite/most emotional/ made you cry?**

**Hello Guys, I am soooo very sorry for not updating on Sunday but my internet and phone has been cut off since a week ago last Thursday thanks to somebody cutting through the wire whilst doing road works. I was not very happy with this and to be honest this last week has been hell without internet! Finding the up point; it did give me chance to concentrating on writing the story as I didn't get distracted with reading other fan-fics! So all in all these past weeks have been hell, I think I'm addicted!**

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><p>'So Draco, how's life with the mudblood' Goyle questioned Draco as they sat at the Slytherin table eating a large, hearty breakfast before lessons began, meaning the official start of the academic year.<p>

'Shit. She just mopes around reading as always. I can't believe Snape has made her Head Girl, a stupid, incapable girl like her. We tried to avoid her little group for the past six years whilst all she did was swan around after Potter and Weasley and run over the castle like she owned the place. How does her ability match up to mine, anyhow?' He partly lied just to cut the conversation short, he really didn't want to spend his breakfast discussing the living habits of Hermione Granger.

'You know Drakey, if she is really that bad there is always enough room for you in my room' Pansy Parkinson commented as she pushed her plate, that was still full of food, away from her and began pulling her perfectly manicured fingers through her straightened, highlighted hair.

'Yeah right Parkinson, in your dreams' Draco replied disregarding her comment quickly as always. When was she going to realise that she wasn't interested? It was their seventh year for merlin's sake!

'Don't be like that Drakey' she said as she leaned over the table to put her hand on his shoulder whilst pushing out her chest to show her undone top three buttons.

'Oh just piss off ,why don't you?' He nearly spat at her as she slowly sunk back down onto the bench and pouted out her bottom glossed lip in what she would call a 'sexy' way.

'Crabbe, Goyle we're leaving' he said as he flung his legs over the bench, picked up his bag and flung it gracefully over his right shoulder before stalking out of the great hall.

Once out of the hall Crabbe and Goyle fell back into their usual ranks on his shoulders, none making conversation after the strict atmosphere that had appeared after the past conversation. They began to walk up to the second floor for their first lesson on the year, Defence against the Dark Arts. Luckily, this was his second to best subject after potions and he was very confident in his ability so he didn't have to worry about paying attention in the first lesson of term. All three boys had the same classes at the same time however it was Draco out of the three of them who carried the brains. The other two had barely scraped through their OWLs, but on their side they did have some very useful contacts.

Unfortunately, this class was too be shared with the remaining Gryffindors and although Draco was expecting it to be a fairly small class he felt sure that Hermione would be in it, as she somehow managed to be such a swat she could take practically everything. Never the less he was never that far behind her in lessons, apart from in Transfiguration, his worst subject.

Once the group of the three entered the large and open classroom they quickly grabbed the empty back desk where they normally sat, perfect for causing disruption and sending flying gum into the back of their classmate's hair. Also in the back they could normally avoid the teacher's questions and bad habits whilst being able to see everyone else in the room at the same time.

Draco got out his new quill, ink and NEWT work book that was needed for the upcoming year and laid it neatly on the desk in front of him, Crabbe and Goyle copied him as they both sat down on either side of him.

Then he set himself the task of surveying this year's new teacher as he leaned back in his seat, completely relaxed, stretching a little. He recognized the man that stood before him at once, he was one of his own.

His name was Alexander Carrow and he was a death eater. Draco had seen him at many of the common dinners that the Malfoy's regularly held for all the members of their side as their house was the new quarters. To be honest Draco didn't really know why Alexander had been sent to be a teacher because he was a very valuable possession, from what Draco knew he was a very talented man with particular interests in developing new curses that could be used for his side to win the on-going battle.

Maybe Carrow has been strategically placed at Hogwarts to get information for Lord Voldemort or to teach the potential upcoming death eaters the skills that they would need to posses after they left school to be worthy fighters. Draco thought that her probably there for both.

Alexander was a muscular and toned man, even for his age, with a stern face and a square head. He had dark brown hair that was closely cut to make him look strict. He also had a thin pink line going down his face from an old battle scar that had not been able to fully heal itself. He had nearly black, small eyes that were intimidating and impossible to stare back, he also possessed many other lines across his fifty year old face that showed the mass of fights he had been in from the past.

He wore fine black robes and he sat rigidly at the front desk observing his new students and he seemed to be evaluating their potential ability. His eyes met Draco's for a split moment and he very slightly nodded his head as if he was conforming something to him, Draco quickly looked away and began to see who else would be in his class for the next year.

Just at that moment Carrow swiftly stood up so that his cloak billowed behind him, only now did Draco realised how tall he really was as he stood before his seventh year class.

'Turn to page five in your books, now! I hope you all have the sufficient equipment necessary as there is no excuse for lack of property and I am not going to be forgiving to those who are unorganised and cause delay to the rest of the class. This year your classes are going to be very different from what you petty students are used to and those who do not work hard and who do not show enough potential will be punished for their behaviour, I have my own very strict rules when it comes to disobedient students and their punishments . . .'

Just then the classroom door flew open to reveal a very out of breath and dishevelled Hermione Granger.

'I am very sorry I am late sir, you see that . . .'

'I have heard enough of you silly pretences, come here now. Name?' Carrow spat as he glared at her before even giving her time to make up some silly yet entertaining excuse.

'Oh; Hermione Granger, sir.' She said as she made her way slowly to the front of the class, her head slightly bowed down so to hide her face that was so predictably a violent tomato red colour.

'Now, let's see, Granger. Now I think I have heard that name before. Where could that possibly be? Do you know Ms. Granger?'He questioned her.

'No sir.'

'Mud blood' he spat at her feet as he quickly turned around and pointed his wand at her body. As these words left his mouth the other mud bloods in the class took in sharp breaths whilst others looked astounded at his bluntness and tone of voice as none of them really expected teachers to talk like this to their pupils.

'You see Ms. Granger whilst you were chasing around after your stupid, adolescent occupied mind that made you late for my class, you missed my little speech that I made to the rest of the class about obedience. Let me explain what I said to them, in fact, let one of them explain what I was implying when I was talking to them.'

He then turned to the class, although he kept his wand still pointed at Granger's petite body.

Nobody raised their hands. Lot of bloody wimps. So Draco reluctantly raised his hand.

'Yes, Mr Malfoy?' he asked him.

'You were implying that there would be very strict consequences for those who disobeyed you, but that this would teach us the fundamental rules about to behave, so the punishments may be severe' he explained, even if he did exaggerate slightly just to see what would happen.

'Perfect answer, five points to Slytherin' like anyone cared about points anymore, he just did this to show a blunt comparison to what he was about to do to Granger.

'And that is what I am just going to prove to the class, I hope that is fine with you Ms. Granger' he slowly explained to they both stood at the very front of the class, her eyes were slightly wide in fright and her hands rung in front of her. What an easy target.

'Cruitus' he precisely yet calmly said as the whole classed stared in horror at the withering body on the floor in front of them. All the class apart from Draco, of course, he nearly chuckled to see that eventually filthy mud bloods were finally getting the treatment that he thought they deserved, but as quickly as the curse had been muttered it was over; to his disappointment. Maybe he was enjoying it slightly too much.

His eyes then wandered over to the breathless girl on the floor, slowly picking her small body up from its crumpled position on the stone surface.

'You may be seated.' He said to her with an heir of satisfaction in his voice as he neatly tucked his wand back in his cloak pocket. Hermione quickly shuffled to the first desk that she could find beside a stuck up Gryffindor.

The rest of the lesson passed quickly, Draco liked Carrow's method of teaching as it was strict and firm and even he had to admit that it was slightly prejudiced to the Slytherins and pure-bloods. Before he realised it, the time had passed and the lesson was over. He left the classroom in the same formation he had come in with his two accomplices at his sides, but he a slightly smugger grin on his face than before.

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Hermione Granger ran through the deserted corridors of Hogwarts school, late for her very first lesson on the year – it was Defence Against the Dark Arts with the Slytherins.

She hastily stumbled along as fast as she could manage with all of her books and bags that she needed for the day, she was also highly aware that her hair had come undone during this and back to its wild mess which she always tried her best to avoid.

When she finally made it up to the second floor she was out of breath, sweaty and slightly dizzy from all the running, so without really considering what she was doing she walked straight into the full classroom that included her new teacher.

When she opened the door he quickly turned on the spot so see who had entered his class and his eyes soon caught with hers, his gaze was swiftly followed by around thirty pupils in the class, including a certain Draco Malfoy.

'I am very sorry I am late sir, you see that . . .' the words quickly tumbled out of her mouth, trying to find an acceptable excuse for her late entry but with the professors sharp and penetrating gaze on her it was hard to concentrate on forming a full sentence that made proper sense.

He obviously did not care for what she had to offer as he quickly interrupted her causing her to stop mid-sentence.

'I have heard enough of you silly pretences, come here now. Name?'

'Oh; Hermione Granger, sir.' She quickly responded in hope that he would just let her sit on her seat without a fuss, this she highly doubted would happen and as she thought this through she could feel her face warming up. She could easily imagine the colour it would be and her whole class seeing and laughing at it, this thought alone made it turn even deeper.

'Now, let's see, Granger. Now I think I have heard that name before. Where could that possibly be? Do you know Ms Granger?'

'No sir.' She replied with a scary suspicion as where this conversation was heading.

'Mud blood' he spat at her. Yes, her assumptions were correct but this didn't make them any easier to hear. She was so used to hearing that name spoken from the words of a Slytherin but somehow hearing it from a professor who she normally had very high respect for as they had high authority made it much worse. His eyes never left hers when he said this and she knew he said it with deep loathing, she couldn't stop her eyes slightly flinching as these words were delivered.

'You see Ms. Granger whilst you were chasing around after your stupid, adolescent occupied mind that made you late for my class, you missed my little speech that I made to the rest of the class about obedience. Let me explain what I said to them, in fact, let one of them explain what I was implying when I was talking to them.'

She then looked around to see the shocked class in front of her.

Nobody raised their hands for a while and this time seemed very tense as everybody hoped somebody else would answer his question. Eventually someone at the very back of the classroom raised their hand highly into the air. It was Draco Malfoy.

She had not noticed his presence as she had first entered the class and now as she skimmed his face she saw that he looked incredibly smug as he carefully watched her look at him in slight horror.

'Yes, Mr Malfoy?' he asked him.

'You were implying that there would be very strict consequences for those who disobeyed you, but that this would teach us fundamental rules about to behave, so the punishments may be severe'. That horrid, slimy git she immediately thought, using Ron's common nickname for him. What was his problem with her? Did he just want to see her pain or did he just want to suck up to his new teacher, both she thought.

It was now when she really looked at her new Professor, Professor Carrow (she knew his name as she had already read up on him prior to the lesson, as she always did with new teachers) she had suspected that he was a bad man but his presence just confirmed it. He was a tall man in sleek black robes but he had an ugly and battered face that did not match with his chunky body which was predominately made up of muscles, she assumed. He had pitch black eyes and cropped black hair, and he had a horrid smile with wonky and stained teeth that looked ravenous. His overall presence was intimidating and it was obvious he had strong authority over the room before him.

'Perfect answer, five points to Slytherin' this almost made Hermione tut under her breath, stupid prejudiced teacher; she should have guessed.

'And that is what I am just going to prove to the class, I hope that is fine with you Ms. Granger' he slowly explained as he reached inside his cloak to pull out his wand. She could feel her eyes widening in fright as her pulse began to accelerate as the thought of all the possible curses he was probably about to put onto her flashed across her mind.

She didn't hear the exact name of the curse he did eventually chose as suddenly her whole body was withering with pure pain and agony. All she did see was the moving of his thin lips and a blue jet of sparks coming out of his wand before all her hearing and sight became deformed as the curse spread through her small body. There are not really words that you can write to describe the pain she was feeling, it was like having a million needles pierce you all over whilst hot molten flowed through every vein in her body, completely engulfing it. She also didn't feel herself fall onto the floor as all she could think of was when it was going to stop, oh how much she wanted it to stop. She bit deeply into her bottom lip making it bleed, as she was definitely not going to scream as that would only make things worse and embarrass her further, not to mention make Carrow satisfied with his work.

When he withdrew his wand after what seemed like an age she laid breathless on the floor, too weak to pick herself back up. Then she remembered the smug grin on Draco and her teachers face before she had been cursed and just to prove them both wrong that she was weak and not to make them any happier than what they were already, she found a small burst of energy somewhere inside her that she used slowly gather herself off the floor and take her to the nearest desk with a spare seat. She found herself seated next to Jeremy Ricks, a Gryffindor boy of whom she had never really associated herself with.

The Defence of The Dark Arts lesson passed by very slowly, but the whole time she kept very quiet and did not answer any questions as she would have normally done in any other class, she just kept her head down and took notes in silence. Mostly Carrow explained the new course that they would be taking the upcoming year and although it seemed a lot of work it somehow seemed to calm her. Work made her feel a bit more like her life was back to normal and she thought that the more work she had the less time she would have to think of everything else.

However, what she did notice throughout that lesson and the rest that followed that day was that most of the teachers were of the same type as Carrow; dark, strict and more mysterious than others. In fact, the more she thought of it the more she realised just how many of her old teachers had left and been replaced by ones of Snape's choice.

She was tired, stressed and lonely by the time she finally made her way back to her common room late that evening. Not having her two best friends there had really changed her school routine as she was so used to their presence. At lunch and dinner she sat alone at the Gryffindor table not talking to anyone, then she went to the library to do her fast growing stack of homework and she would, again, sit alone and spend hours sat there, but when she checked how much word she had achieved it was hardly any. She had spent her time there just daydreaming and thinking, no not thinking, she was wishing, wishing about how much she wanted everything to just be back to how they were before everything started, back to normal.

After climbing the last steep step of stairs she opened the door hidden in the portrait and walked into the luxurious room, only to find Malfoy causally lounging on the sofa reading a book under the glowing firelight. He quickly looked up at her when she entered and for the first time since their train journey together they made eye contact.

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><p><strong>What did you think? Did you like the double POV's or was it just pointless? I always appreciate feedback! x x x<strong>

**I have a big favour to ask you guys:**

**When I was stranded with no internet I began to think about the story 'blurb' that shows when you search for stories and whether my one I have currently enough is engaging enough people. So, not knowing what to do, I came up with some other options for it and I thought than who better to trust with choosing which one to use would be my amazing readers, as you see it from a different point of view from what I do and have a lot of trust and respect for you spending your time reading my story. So here are my ideas and I would appreciate it if you could tell me which one you prefer, even if it just the number of the one you like. THANK YOU! YOU ARE ALL WONDERFULL AND AMAZING!**

**Just to remind you here is the one I currently have:**

**1) Is it possible that the one who was meant to break your heart was actually the one to mend it? He was bred to be a heartless monster; she just wanted to be cared for. Then he said those three eternal words that have spoken by so many but has never meant so much. Then in that single moment they knew that there two broken hearts could finally beat as one.**

**2) 'I love you' it was like the most beautiful melody hovering in the air around me as those three words rolled so easily of his perfect lips. Then I placed my warm hand on his cold stone heart and he laid his fingertips on my broken one.' Is it possible that the one who was meant to break your heart might just be the one to mend it?**

**3) Is it possible that the one who was bred to break your heart might just be the one to mend it? She thought he was a heartless monster, he thought she was a self-obsessed swat. Both couldn't admit that they were hurt and needed curing. That was until they met, they talked, they cursed ...and they fell in love.**

**Thank you so very very very much! Next chapter up soon! I promise x**

**Please review and vote for your favourite AN as this means we will, hopefully, get more readers, which means more reviews, which inspires me to write! You get and inspired writing and I get reviews! We all win!**

**Happy Voting!**


	7. Lost Letters

**I know this chapter is short, but it is quite important and I don't think it needs to be any longer. I hope you enjoy it : ) Again I really do apologise for complete mess up of my posting schedule , my internet is still not on! This means that I am updating this from a friend's house so I can't put up call outs – i am really really sorry about this, i will next time – i promise! This also means that I haven't been able to thoroughly check this chapter as I just wanted to get it out as I don't know when I well be able to update again.**

**Anyways, enjoy . . . .**

**Happy Reading!**

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><p>Draco's eyes quickly caught on Hermione's smouldering chocolate ones, but only for a second did they meet as he swiftly broke the connection and diverted them back to his old, battered book that he was casually reading. However, in that small moment in time when their eyes did meet what he saw there was pure hatred radiating from their depths.<p>

Granger walked briskly into her room with her eyes kept rigidly on the floor, to avoid him he presumed, and shut the door rather noisily behind her. Within minutes of her closing the mahogany door he heard the gentle flowing of water from the shower in her room and, again, just minutes later the water stopped flowing and all was silent again.

Draco stayed up late into the evening reading, briefly studying and sometimes thinking in the calming presence of the warm orange glow of the open fireplace. He did not hear any more from Granger's room all evening, but there was a thin stream of light coming from underneath her wooden door, so he assumed she was doing similar to himself (reading and thinking, thinking and reading) but in the privacy of her own chamber where they didn't have to sit in the presence of one another.

Around ten o'clock that night when the sun was long hidden and the moon was just beginning to awaken in the sky the stream of light from under her door disappeared and went into darkness as she turned off her light, Draco quickly thought that this was because she needed something riducous like ten hours sleep every night, like any perfect child who lived for school would take time to work out– what a waste of her short life, sleeping.

At about half eleven he dimmed the glowing fire with his wand until it was just a peaceful smouldering heap causing the door to fall into a muggy, dim grey colour. He then made his way into his room and he quickly put on his new, green silk trousers so he didn't get cold, then he climbed onto his new double bed, he always showered in the mornings unlike some people.

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Birds happily sang unknown melodies into the newly broken dawn the next morning as the sun rose up and over the forbidden forest in the cool September air. In the east turret of the Hogwarts castle and on the second floor both adolescent head students were starting to awaken.

First to rise out of the two of them was Draco, after getting up and out of bed he swiftly took a quick, cold shower as he always did every morning to wake himself up and prepare him for the upcoming day. Then he got dressed in his freshly pressed and folded robes that had been left out by the elves the day before as they always were, he then grabbed his books and bags, tucked them under his elbow and then headed out of his door.

Hermione Granger, on the other side of the wall, arose at six thirty that same morning with a horrid aching in all her muscles that made all her limps feel twice as heavy as normal. She assumed this was from the curse she had to endure just the day before as particular curses, like the Cruitus one, are very physically straining on the body.

She reluctantly got out of her comfortable bed and walked into her luxurious bathroom; she washed herself thoroughly and applied minimal make-up (just an anti-blemish cream) and began to tackle her untamed hair. Once it was harshly brushed she neatly placed it behind her ears and clipped in place, she then got dressed in her Gryffindor robes, grabbed her bag and left her organised room into a less organised world.

By some very strange and odd coincidence and no-matter how un-realistic it seems those two teenagers left their individual rooms that very sane morning within seconds of each other. Draco strode confidently out his room whilst locking it with a simple yet strong spell. Meanwhile at the same time Hermione closed her door softly behind her. It was not until they both turned around and looked up did they realise each other's presence and made their eyes meet once more. Once again they quickly disconnected their eyes from each other and fell back into their normal submission of ignoring each other and whilst Draco sped out through the portrait as quickly as possible Granger stayed behind to let him pass.

Once out of the door they then both separated themselves from their shared accommodation and made their separate ways and at separate times to the great hall to indulge themselves into a hearty breakfast that always awaited them there. Once again Hermione sat alone at her table reading the Daily Prophet that was filled with nonsense about how well the Ministry was dealing with the ongoing war. There were also pointless articles from that scheming bat Rita Skeeter and a review for her new book all about Dumbledore, the whole idea of her forming that book was so offensive to Dumbledore's soul it was positively disrespectful.

On the other side of the hall Draco sat with his usual bunch of stuck up Slytherins as they talked about money, wealth and how downhill the school was going with all the dirty blooded pupils mooning around the place, the same old daily conversations.

The day passed slowly for both students as lessons began to return to normal and the daily routine began to set in once again. Lunch passed at complete opposite time speeds, for one it passed as fast as ever as he stalked around the school abusing his power to terrorise younger students. For the other she studied, as normal, in the Library and once she finished studying she began to read-on in her favourite subjects just to try to stop herself thinking. To her thinking was dangerous.

The one thing that Hermione did begin to notice as she was spending more and more time in lessons was that all the teachers, especially the new ones, had grown a very high yet very bad prejudiced against, as they called them 'mud bloods' or non-magic folk as Hagrid once called it years ago. The professors were finding any reason possible to punish them or exploit them in front of their classes and friends. Their punishments were also getting worse and stricter; you could even begin to call some of them inhumane, they were treated as if they were just test animals. They were just like animals that the teachers could use whenever they wanted to test out their new curses on, it was almost as if they were helping the other side get stronger, more educated without getting caught.

Out of the two of them, Hermione was definitely gladder to get back to her room that evening as Draco just found it an inconvenience to be away from his peers at the other end of the school. She literally fell onto the soft cushions on the sofa, letting her bag fall off her tired shoulders and her shoes slide of her aching feet once she entered the empty room. However, when she did sit down there was a crumbling of paper underneath her. She reached between the cushions and pulled out a crumbled piece of parchment that had probably once been neatly folded but was now tired-looking but still sealed.

The name on the parchment was what the main aspect that caught her attention; it was entitled 'Otter'. As soon as she saw the name her mind started to work and tick over, it was already thinking of all the possibilities for this coded name. She assumed it was for her as anything for Draco would have been kept much more secret so she looked around to confirm to herself that no one else shared the room with her. She quickly broke the seal, unrolled the letter and began to read what was enclosed:

_Otter,_

_To begin with I must explain that I have decided to use your patronus as your name during our correspondence as at the current time recent developments mean that it is becoming more and more likely that this letter will be intercepted. Also, only I and a few trusted others know the form of your patronus and the whereabouts that you currently inhabit, vice versus with myself._

_I am writing to you to let you know that I am safe and well, but saddened with my guilt for leaving you behind the last time we met. I am not going to enclose my current whereabouts for obvious reasons but the owl knows where to find me. _

_I am beginning my journey that we discussed before my departure to find what needs to be found, and as of yet I have not made any substantial progress. I am asking for your help and advice with where to begin my search, as I know you will be of great help and I know that once I have taken the first few small steps the path will become clear in front of me. _

_For now, that is all I have to say. Please help keep me and my mind at rest by knowing that you are safe and well. You must realise that I am very sorry and I promise to return to your side once more again soon. _

_Until we meet again,_

_Stag_

As Hermione finished reading short letter she realised that her eyes had weld up and that silent but heavy tears were running in streaks down her dry cheeks and onto the parchment she was holding with shaking hands. She also had a large and uncomfortable lump in her throat that would not dislodge itself however many times she swallowed.

She sat there for an unknown length of time staring at the simple but magical words from her best friend, she stayed their staring at the words for so long that the only measure of time was how much of the day that had moved on without her, the sun and sunken and fallen out of sky, meaning that the room has turned from a glowing orange to a dull and gloomy blackening grey. She had not noticed the change in light or in her eyesight and as she now raised the letter to her eyes she realised that it nearly unreadable in the given light.

Once she had put her mind straight and gathered her thoughts her mind quickly began to resume working and she quickly jumped to her feet from the soft cushion that she had slowly sunken into and rushed into her room to pull out some spare parchment and her quill so she could write an immediate reply to him.

However, once she had settled herself at the mahogany desk that she had reserved for Malfoy's usage, she had poised herself ready to begin, but as she sat there she couldn't manage conjure the words to write. She had a complete mental blank of what to put, she knew the letter was from Harry as that was obvious; not only that he used their patronuses as their names which was typical Harry as his stag meant a lot to him it was also the style in the way he wrote to her, he was simple in what he said but he managed to cover all he needed to say, he was also careful in what he wrote although his style was relaxed and outgoing just like him.

The hard part of her reply was answering all of his questions which he had set out for her, she had not really given any thought to possible locations for the Horcruxes since as his departure as her mind had been so clouded with many other things, mainly her emotions.

So to give her time to think, but to also make some progress in her reply, she began her letter simply:

_Stag,_

_I am overjoyed to receive your letter and to know that you are happy; it has taken a big worry off of my mind. To begin with I must state very clearly that should definitely not feel guilty about your sudden departure, after having time to reflect on the matter I have realised that it was quite strategic and although I am still not happy with it I will be happy to help you and to try and make your plan work out as best as possible. You must obviously have a lot on your mind right now and I should not be taking up space on that list. Things have not turned out as bad as I had first anticipated, things are beginning to return back to normal and in a way it is reassuring to get back to the old routine. _

At this moment she stopped and hesitated, hovering the nib of her quill just millimetres away from the parchment. Knowing that that she was fluidly lying to her best friend who was in so much danger made her somewhat nervous, so much so that her hand was beginning to shake and small splatters of ink were forming on her letter. Maybe she felt so bad because they had been through so much and were so close and they both much to each other, especially in the current uncertain climate that it felt almost as if she was betraying him – like she was against him, or giving him false information. Of course, she didn't want to lie to Harry but it was better for him to think that she was happy and settled so that he didn't have another thing to worry about on top of the huge challenge he was just beginning to face.

Gathering herself back together she refreshed her quill with some fresh ink and pressed it back onto the parchment in her italic writing on a new paragraph;

_As for you asking me for my help, of course I am very willing to try and help you as much as I can and give you as much support as you need. I think that you should begin by residing to a safe place for your headquarters and you should start to look for clues and answers in the ones that have been there from the very start – maybe a Kreacher of some sort. _

She hoped that he would understand her cryptic message and she didn't want to give too much valuable and traceable information away in her letter as it could easily fall into the wrong hands. She had a lot a faith in Harry's ability and she was sure that he would understand what she meant.

_I hope that my ideas will be of some use and will help to get you started. I wish you all the luck in the near future and I hope very much to hear from you again soon. Please write again so I can know if you are successful and if I can be of any more help._

_Missing you dearly,_

_Otter_

She decided to stop there and keep the message short as longer ones were more likely to catch someone's attention as they are more suspicious, therefore meaning that they are more likely to be intercepted.

She quickly read through her note, happy with her reply. She then neatly sealed it and attached it to the thin leg of the tawny owl which had appeared outside of her window whilst she was reading the letter. She had quickly guessed that it belonged to Harry as it had immediately flown over to the open letter and perched on it. Ever since it had arrived it had been patiently waiting for her by her side for her to finish, probably instructed by Harry to wait until it received a reply, she gave it a small treat from a small supply she kept in her room before she walked it over to the window, opened it and let it fly gracefully out.

She watched the bird until it out of sight; however she couldn't help but wonder where that bird was going as it led straight to where Harry was. That night it wasn't until she looked in her mirror that she realised that a smile was plastered on her face, even though the smile was slight and small it was the first she had given since she had arrived at Hogwarts, and a smile is still a smile. Harry really never failed to make her smile, even in the worst times.

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><p><strong>What did you think?<strong>

**One more thing, flicking through my amazing reviews I have decided to change my A/N to:**

**'I love you' it was like the most beautiful melody hovering in the air around me as those three words rolled so easily of his perfect lips. Then I placed my warm hand on his cold stone heart and he laid his fingertips on my broken one.' Is it possible that the one who was meant to break your heart might just be the one to mend it?**

**So thank you for all you ideas!**

**The more reviews we get the more I want to post the next chapter (to get more reviews!) so I post sooner, so you get quicker posts and I more I enjoy writing them for you! Everybody wins!**


	8. Stained Black Discussions

**Okay Guys, I AM BACK! After 27 days with no internet I am officially back online! *cheers and wooping all around!* I feel really terrible as I haven't updated so here is my next chapter. First of all I need to tie up some loose ends and I want to say thank you to everybody who is still reading for sticking with this story an especially to these people; (sorry if i miss anyone out, I am still sorting through emails)**

**Story Alert: Becky80, SilverPapaya, I bleed Ink, cutiekaren126 and Rainbowhearts95**

**Favourite Story: foreverlivinginhogwarts and cutiekaren126**

**And to my amazing reviewers: ReiknelLOL but especially to sweet-tang-honey and wolfsong12 as they always review my chapters and really keep my writing!**

**So a huge cyber hug to all of you guys!**

**I know it's late. I know it is not that long. I know I am begining to blather. But (FINALLY) here it is Chapter 8 ...**

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><p>It had been four days and nineteen hours exactly since she had arrived at Hogwarts for her seventh and final year at the school, she had been counting. Now as the echoing ringing came out from the great bell tower that signalled the end of another lunchtime sent in the Library she added another hour to her total.<p>

As she walked through the bustling corridors that were brimming full with hundreds of happy and busy students that reminded her so much of herself and how she had spent the last six years of her life, never in all that time had she felt so alone. She walked to her next class of the day, Transfiguration, slowly keeping her head bowed down letting her hair cover her face like Harry's old invisibility cloak used to. This was part of her disguise to blend in, now as she was tightly hugging her vast array of books; she only wished that she could go about almost unnoticed, like one of the many ghosts that had patrolled around Hogwarts corridors for hundreds of years before her.

She enjoyed transfiguration, in fact it was probably one her favourite subjects, not only because of the beauty that she found in the realisation that she could change an item into another or improve one into something better with just a short flick of her wand, it also enjoyed it because she was taught by the only withstanding teacher that had not been replaced with another from the 'other side' as she liked to call it. Thankfully she still had Professor McGonagall and although she was sometimes strict and hard on her students she was very knowledgeable and fair and her lessons felt almost like a heaven compared to the others she had to endure.

She walked into the half full classroom of students and she sat herself in her usual seat in the corner of the square room , she methodically got out her books, quill and ink , taking time as she did so, then she sat up with her refreshed quill in her hand ready and poised to learn.

What seemed like many more than the few hours later after that transfiguration lesson she was trudging up to the now well-known portrait and whispering the daily password into it under her breath. Once inside she saw that it held no other presence other then herself so she carried on into her room, dumped her books on the floor and got herself ready for bed.

She then, eagerly but tiredly, fell into the deep folds of her expensive but forgiving bed and laid there enjoying the pure sense of relaxation and freeness that it gave to her. It was not long before she fell into a deep and well deserved sleep after another long and exhausting day that were so common from now on.

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Draco finished his filling yet satisfying dinner by laying his knife and fork politely into place on his plate as he had always been taught to do so as a young child.

'So, what do you think of out new charms teacher, Draco?' Goyle asked in his voice that had finally settled at a deep level after years of it flipping between octaves.

'Alright I suppose, better than the load of trash we had here before.'

'I agree, I mean at least we have a chance of passing out NEWTS this year, not like we really need them is though Draco. Our lives had been laid out before us and to be honest I am bloody thankful for it, takes the pressure of us a bit. In fact I think we are just a waste of talent spending another year here.'

'Yeah I suppose it does have that advantage to it. Not that I am to happy with the idea of our lives already been chosen for us.'

'What do you mean? I thought you couldn't wait to start the real, hardcore fighting. Heard anything about a placement yet?' Goyle asked, unusually forward with his questioning.

'Just leave it, why don't you?' Draco snapped back at him, becoming temperamental with his tiredness.

'Fine, go get some sleep you obviously need it. See you tomorrow then.'

'Yeah, whatever. 'Draco said as he sat there and watched Goyle stride off out the door of the great hall, since when had he become so arrogant and confident? He asked himself. Now he really felt alone as best friends slowly began to leave his side and make their own stand in life.

It was about ten thirty that night, just as Draco was finishing a chapter in his book and was thinking about showering when he felt his left arm itch irritably and uncomfortably. He unbuttoned and unrolled his shirt to find to his horror that the dark mark that had been so brutally and forcefully burned into his skin was slowly beginning to slither and squirm under his pale and translucent skin.

He hated that mark and always covered it up, even when he was only in his own company he never had it on show, this was not just because he wanted to keep it a secret but it always reminded him of what he was. What he breed to be. It reminded him that no matter how far and wide he ran, no matter how clean his thoughts were he would never truly get away from the fact of what he really was. He could never escape it.

And now as he stared at the moving snake's body that began morphing into distorted shapes across his arm he watched it with wide open eyes as he stood there, slightly frozen with fear. Of course he knew what this meant, he had been summoned and he was to leave at once to his home, the headquarters. This was his first proper summoning i as he had never really left the confinements of his home since he had been marked and tagged like some sort of dog. Already it was like a time bomb was slowly ticking away, the second the signal had been sent they would be expecting him and the longer he made them wait the more angry and irritable they would become.

In a sort of trance like state he dressed himself in his black robes which he kept for these sort of formal occasions. Before he left the security of his room he checked himself in the full length mirror.

The person that stared at him back was not a man, a strong and confident death eater; it was a small and unprotected boy. He looked frightened and scared and he had a thin, shinning layer of sweat over his forehead, his complexion had turned a pale and sickly white and his eyes were bright, but not with excitement but with fear.

He rushed into his bathroom, angry at himself for wasting time, and let the tap flow. He looked himself directly in the eye in the bathroom mirror and cupped his hands together and let the cold water flow into them, he then splattered the water over his young face and he grasped the edge of the basin, panting deeply. He had to get a grip on himself; he was a fucking Malfoy for merlin's sake.

So annoyed at himself for being so pathetic he smashed the boy in the mirror with his cold, hard first as he tried to wipe away that image. His knuckle smashed again the mirror, shattering it into two, this did not change the look of the stubborn boy's face that had a rigid jaw and set mouth, it only distorted it into something even more unnatural and hideous.

He was so angry with himself for being so weak that he hardly noticed the blood that slowly beginning to trickle down his right hand and make small flicks of scarlet onto the cream carpet, he hardly noticed that pain that came with the blood, a sharp and piercing pain that pin pointed where his hand had made contact with the mirror just seconds before. He was numb to the feeling of this sort of pain, physical pain, he had felt it so much in the last few years he had sort of become accustomed to it.

Without giving himself time to think about what was waiting for him there, he quickly thought of the front porch of home and he turned on the spot to apparate.

He felt the usual jolt that felt like he was being pulled by his stomach and he heard a sharp crack, but when that had passed he opened his eyes which he had subconsciously closed and looked at the heavy and somewhat intimidating door that stood closed shut in front of him.

Preparing himself for what or who stood on the other side of the frame he wiped his hand over his forehead to get rid of any unwanted sweat that would give any signs of fear, he then straighten his robes and concentrated on setting his face in a emotionless and rigid position. Without a second thought he then pressed his palm against the solid gold knocker that had the Malfoy crest encrusted on its surface and opened the heavy door with ease.

As soon as he crossed the boundary line into his home his eyes began to quickly dart around the rooms that he could see from his position for any signs of life. This part of the house looked exactly the same as when he had left it just days earlier for school, it was dark and cold and altogether uninviting.

He walked up to the nearest door which belonged to the grand dining room and he listened, the door was closed and inside he could hear mumbling that resembled the sounds of formal conversation, of course he knew this wasn't the same as any other meeting.

Knowing that they would be able to sense his presence and not wanting to be caught acting suspiciously he confidently strode into the crowed room which fell silent as soon as he entered. Around forty faces looked up at the open door and quickly shot back down when they realised it was only him.

They all sat around a long and expensive wooden table that had been in the family ever since Draco could cast his memories back to; when he was a young child he always remembered how his parents would sit at opposite ends and him in the middle. That action about summed up his family, formal and disjointed.

He recognised all the people in the room from the regular parties that he was expected to attend with his parents and all the men and women seemed to be sitting in order of preference of loyalty he assumed. For example that physco that was Bellatrix Lestrange was sitting to left but one of the Dark Lord himself. She was winding a thick piece of her crazy and untameable hair around her bony finger and she was licking her full lips as if she was tasting the hair, one of her many unattractive habits. Her eyes were also manically flitting around the room so she looked completely alert, nothing would miss her gaze.

'Ah Draco, I see you made it, you see I was beginning to think that you had deserted me.' A stone sold voice said in the thick silence, it was draped heavily with authority and a voice so cold and empty could only belong to once being. Lord Voldemort.

Draco slowly raised his bowed head to meet the eyes that belonged to the beast who sat at the head of the table where his father had once sat, he had a large and thick snake wrapped protectively around his neck and he absentmindedly caressed it with his filthy fingernails.

'Yes, my Lord, I am very sorry that I am late, please accept my apology.' Draco replied politely as he slightly bent his body into a bow, the perfect act.

'This one time Draco, but this one time only. You see when my followers are late I begin to wonder what they are doing that could be more important and necessary than their dedication to our side. You comprehend?'

'Of course, my Lord.' And with that Draco's eyes slowly scanned the room for his parents which were not hard to spot as they were seated near Voldemort himself and shared his pallid colour hair. He walked calmly and composed to the empty seat between them and sat down. His mother then quickly squeezed his shoulder which he found strangely comforting that even he had to slightly smile in her direction before his face turned once more back into its blank mask as he turned to their leader who had began speaking.

'As I was just informing you, I have called this meeting to bring us together so that we discuss our plans for the upcoming months. We need to set ourselves stricter targets as have many of you had probably not been paying enough attention to notice so far the boy is still alive.' His voice rose to new levels on the last sentence as his fist thumped heavily against the table making many bodies in the room jump.

Dracos body slowly began to tense up as he knew that Voldemort was getting angry and when he became angry he was not at all forgiving.

Voldemorts black, piercing eyes then moved slowly anti-clockwise around the room meeting everybody else's as if this would help convey the importance of the message he was trying to get across. And as his eyes swept to Draco's he felt an old sensation like his soul had become on show and that, somehow, he would never be happy again. However, this feeling quickly subsided when their eyes lost connection and the Dark Lord had continued to his farther.

'If you may my Lord I feel that I have some information for you.' He spoke up, his voice surprisingly loud and confident compared to the opposite of how he felt on the inside. But he realised that to gain the trust of the many before him he would have to help him, and if Voldemort trusted you, believe me, your life was kept on this side of hell.

'Yes'. He smiled creepily and over-nice showing a prime example of his many drastic mood swings.

'I-I-I feel that you should now that Harry Potter has-s not returned to school-l.' He said, his voice begingging to break under the protruding glances of all the bodies in the room that were so much more powerful and experienced than himself.

'Not a surprise to hear that as this is what we expected , but I thank you Draco for your conformation on this subject. Do you have any idea of where he would be?'

'N-n-no my Lord, of this I have no answers.'

'Well I suggest that you think of some as you are our one individual member that can see the world through the eyes of a boy your age.'

'I-I-I will be sure to do so, my Lord' and as he said this he bowed his head and he felt another small but reassuring squeeze on his right leg from him mother.

The conversation then moved on and with it the attention did so to. He only hoped that his questioning had been finished for the night.

That evening discussions fell deep into the night and debatably into the morning but it was hard to tell in the room they were all locked in as it had no clock or any windows which could give some indication of the time. It made Draco feel costrophobic after hours of the dark talk which contaminated the air in which he breathed in, it made him want to choke. The hard seat beneath him was becoming increasingly uncomfortable and his eyes began to ache and droop after his long day. Conversation thankfully never fell onto him again and he only concentrated on pretending to be listening and taking in all the information.

Draco felt so relived once the meeting had finally ended. He speedily headed out of the entrance of the room as quickly as he could manage without looking too keen to escape, however as he was leaving the room and rubbing his heavy eyes a bony hand fell on his back. He turned around after a few seconds of realising what to do, his tiredness had affected his reaction time, but thankfully it was only his mother waiting behind him.

She lead him into one of the many empty rooms in the family mansion and look her time closing the door behind her before she slowly turned around to face her only son. They both stood there in silence as the seconds ticked by until his mother finally coughed and spoke;

'How are you Draco? How is school?' She pleasantly asked.

'Fine, mother.' He replied rigidly, not meeting her eyes. He did not expect the repose that these through-away comments lead to.

'Draco, you really must stop these silly pretences and masks you constantly put on for everyone! I am your mother, for heaven's sake. Relax. You are my only son and although you hate the fact you know that I can read you like a book. You're hurting and you're tired and you're fed up, I can tell. I know times are hard, I understand that ...'

'-No you don't! How could you possibly understand what it is like, what this is like' He replied, his voice raising as he pointed to his arm where the dark mark was etched deep into his pale skin.

'Come here, Draco.' She replied, trying to sooth his temper whilst reaching out to touch his muscular shoulder, but he quickly turned round to face her before she had time. They stared into each other's eyes; Narcissa trying to calm her hurting child, Draco angrily forcing his gaze into hers. However, this didn't have the same effect as he had hoped it would as it enabled him to look at his mother for the first time in what seemed like years.

Her face had sunken into her fragile bones and her neck had become taught, she had dark purple circles under her eyes and hidden frown lines were beginning to show on her smooth forehead. What he did not realise was that his mother was seeing these same changes on his younger, adolescent face.

The door then quietly opened behind them, breaking the connection. However, it was only a house elf that had entered the room as they had heard a commotion from the corridor outside had had come to check that everybody was fine.

'Oh Master Draco, Mistress Malfoy, please except my apologies, I did not wish to intrude...'

'No matter we were done anyway.' Draco quickly relied, looking away from his mother. He then rushed out of the door, his black cloak billowing behind him, and he apparated back to Hogwarts.

His room was filled with yellowish morning light that streamed through his unclosed curtains, the light in the room which he apparated into hurt his eyes after hours of him straining them in the dark, musky rooms of his house for hours prior. He looked out his window to see a sun rising sweetly and slowly in the distance, just as normal. It was morning already and he had not slept for over thirty-six hours.

He quickly debated whether to skip school for a day and go to sleep and rest, but he would never do this no matter how tempting it seemed, this year was too important and he must never give anybody anymore reasons for people to question his movements. So he unenthusiastically walked into his bathroom and had yet another cold shower to try and wake up his system, but all it managed to do was surprise it into shock and make it shake uncontrollably.

Giving up on the advantages of a cool shower he resorted to magic, not even giving himself the opportunity to reflect on last night's events. He didn't want to ever have the opportunity to think about it, he just wanted it all to fade away.

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In the room next door, despite the large thump of his landing Hermione Granger had not even stirred in her deep sleep. She would wake up later that morning completely unaware to the double life that her roommate led and the discussions that had taken place just hours before. She would always remain in the deep dark relating to his movements and that would be the way it would always stay. Forever.

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading as always. I would love some reviews as at the moment I only get them of my two faithful reviewers: ( <strong>

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	9. Outcast Americans

**Another update! I am going away for 2 weeks so i won't be able to update so I wanted to get this chapter out before I go.**

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><p>That night Draco was exhausted, he had not slept in nearly forty-eight hours since the unexpected meeting with the Dark Lord himself the past evening. He was very relived to climb into bed that night and be encased in the folds of the bed and within seconds he fell asleep.<p>

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Another long day had passed for Hermione Granger and as she clambered into her dormitory she was more than happy to collapse onto the sofa of the deserted room and peacefully read her current book; 'Jane Eyre'. It was one of her muggle favourites.

She had had been reading for around thirty minutes and she was just beginning to get absorbed into the pages and carried into the year 1815 when she was interrupted by a knocking on the window. She looked up to the closed window to discover that a owl was impatiently waiting outside for her to notice its presence.

She pushed herself off the cushions that she had sunken into and that had moulded themselves to the shape of her body and then she slowly walked over to open the window and let in the bird that she did not recognize.

The barn owl flew into the room and settled itself on the mahogany desk and pushed out its left leg that had a rolled up bit of parchment attached to it, Hermione tentatively took the piece of paper and looked for a name or indication of who it was for, she knew Malfoy would not be appreciative if she read his mail. There was no obvious name on the outside of the letter even as she turned it ariunf and around in her hand so she decided to try and see if any spells had been used to cover up a name.

She was just about to get her wand for her abounded robe pocket when the barn owl impatiently nibbled on her fingers and made a few small squawking noises.

'Alright, Alright' she said as she walked over to the window sill and the small bowl that sat there that was filled with small owl treats, she picked up a couple and handed them to the owl she happily chewed on the treats. When it was satisfied it then flew off the table and out of the still open window, stretching its long wings silhouetted by the dipping sun.

Hermione settled back onto the sofa, still twiddling the parchment between her hands, she then got her wand out of her robe pocket and began to check for enchantments or spells that had been put on the sofa.

Once she had tried all of the obvious spells onto the annoying piece of parchment so she decided that enough was enough. She tried to open the parchment but it was stuck together so it could not be opened, she pushed and pulled forcefully on the edges of the paper and in the end gave up. She shrunk back onto the sofa feeling frustrated that a stupid piece of parchment had beaten her.

She was just about to give and give it to Malfoy to try and decipher when a thought struck her, if she was correct then the writer was ingenious.

Her heart began to flutter with hope and excitement when she tapped the of the parchment and spoke;

'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.' She felt a jult of sadness as the letter didn't immediately open, she had just about given up when slowly the sides of the parchment began to uncurl in her hand and show the hidden message that she had tried so hard to uncover.

She was so excited as she sat herself, poised to begin reading. How clever was the Weasley family? Using the old revealing message from the marauders map all of those years ago that would uncover a hidden map of Hogwarts but otherwise looked like a piece of spare parchment. They obviously didn't want this message to get infiltrated and they, Harry, the marauders and herself where the only ones who knew the correct message.

She laughed to herself for the first time in what seemed like an age as she thought of the Weasleys and how perfect that one moment seemed, with their letter in her hand, even though the rest of her world was crumbling around her.

She then began to read the words she had waited so long to hear:

_Hermione, (well, at least I hope you are Hermione or I am in deep shit!),_

Even that once sentence made Hermione smile gleefully to herself, it was so typical of her best friends.

_Ginny here, ok, and Ron is but I am writing. We are all fine here in America, well I wouldn't say that we are 'fine' of course we all miss home terribly and feel so useless and incapable out here, and America is horrible and we can't use magic as we are surrounded by Muggles, and we have no money with nobody having a stable job, and the school here is like living hell. But I don't want to drown your spirits writing a list of all our problems, what good will that do? (and plus it would take me all day and a lot of parchment!) But at least we are alive and sort of safe; I suppose that is what is important._

_I suppose mum and dad are coping. They both miss the Burow and the family. Mum had gone a bit silent and her food had started going downhill, she spends most evenings crying now, thinking we can't hear her. Dad tries not to think about it too much, he normally has a strained smile on face to try and cheer us all up but it doesn't reach his eyes. _

_It really is terrible being away from home and Hogwarts and England, but worst of all is the pain from being away from you, Harry and the rest of our family. We haven't really heard from Fred, George, Charlie or Bill , all we have relieved is a note from them all saying they are safe._

_I spend all of my time here thinking and dreaming about England, it feels so odd not returning to Hogwarts this year. Our school really is truly terrible; there is no way we will get any decent qualifications from there or any skills in any areas of study. _

_I suppose we remember all of the advantages and good things about home, it is easier to forget all of the bad things that are going on there. I keep thinking that we really have got the worst punishment being sent to isolation out here, but then I think off you and all of the dark things that are arising around you. _

_I really so miss you both so much and hope things haven't worsened much since we left. How is school? Please help me keep the faith in Hogwarts so I have something to look forward to in the future. I am trying so hard to not forget everything I have learnt these past few years, especially in Defence Against the Dark Arts and in Dumbledore's Army – these are the only real areas I hope I do not forget. _

_Please write back. Got any gossip from inside the castle walls? _

_Ginny x x x_

_Ron says he misses you both and it is not the same without you. He misses the trio and although he has me, as I keep reminding him, he wishes you were here – or rather he was there with you._

_Our new address is;_

_Knot House,_

_236 Gillmore Road,_

_Arizona_

When Hermione finished reading the letter she re-read it and re-read it again before finally, making sure she had taken note of everything in it she rolled it back up and went to fetch all the supplies she needed to write a reply. The only part of the message which made be heart jolt was when Ginny wrote in plural, to her and Harry; she still didn't know of Harry's departure.

Then she hurried back to the desk and dipped her best quill in her jet black ink and began to write;

_Ginny, Ron and the Weasleys._

_It was so nice to hear from you and know that you are all well. I am sorry to hear about America, trust me, I miss you all very much two, more than you can imagine._

_Despite being back at Hogwarts I somehow feel more alone than ever. It is so much quieter without any Weasleys to add some colour and laughter and Snape had descended on the school making it darker and sadder than ever. I will not talk much of my problems as there is no point of putting them to paper and who knows what will happen if my letter falls into the wrong hands._

_I am afraid that I have some news to tell you about Harry; he has left. The day before we were to come back to school he literally got up and left out of the blue, not giving me time to go with him as I so wanted to do. Try not to worry about him, I heard from him recently and he said he was ok, he is staying in a secret location that I do now know off and I hope to keep up a regular correspondence with him and, of course, I will report back to you. I think he wishes to find the Horcruxes and destroy them, I personally think this is ridiculous, he needs us. No matter what he thinks he can't do this on his own. _

_I am sorry that I had to tell you this and not him, but he does not know of your new address and I suppose he didn't want to tell you before you left as it may disrupt you plans. However, I do know he would not want us to worry about him. _

_Looking on the up side of life; I am Head Girl! Yay! However the Head Boy position goes to none other than Draco Malfoy!Why? He is a death eater and he has never really come across as being particularly responsible, I suppose Snape is to blame. To make matters ten times as worse we have to share a dormitory! I know that it is bigger than the normal ones we have had to share in previous years but somehow the wall between our bedrooms just doesn't seem big enough. _

_We have just being trying to avoid each other and so far it seems to be working, and don't say that you think I should give him a chance because I refuse. Distance is the only thing I am going to be giving him! _

_School is abysmal hardly any teachers are still here, but it is manageable. Please tell me more about America; it's somewhere to direct all of my thoughts. Hold on in there and have faith in him. _

_Tell your family that I am well and that things are going well here back in England, maybe this will cheer them up even if it not for long. _

_Missing you all terribly,_

_Hermione _

_And Ron- I miss you too. It really does not feel like Hogwarts any more without you and Harry. (And you of course Ginny!)_

Happy with her response Hermione quickly curled up the letter and sealed it with her wand. She put on a containment charm around the letter and set the password to ' I solemnly swear I am up too no good' , as she figured that this would make it the most secure yet easy to open by Ginny. She didn't know if Ginny had used the same charm, but it would do until she thought of something stronger, at least the letter didn't include any valuable or secretive information.

She then gathered up her robe and wand and left the dormitory through the portrait on her way to the owlery. She walked through the deserted corridors that were empty, Hermione hadn't realised what the time was as she was so absorbed in her letters that she didn't realise that the evening was quickly disappearing. She walked up endless stairs to the very top of the Astronomy Tower until the muscles in her legs where aching, still clutching her letter in her hand for safe keeping.

At the very top of the tower she chose to use a black, muscular looking owl that was large and looked healthy as it was in for a long flight all the way to America. She fastened her letter to its bulky leg and gave it a treat that she had picked up from the bowl on her windowsill before leaving her room.

She walked over to the window that view's spread over the wide lake and Hogwarts grounds and she let the Owl hop causally onto her arm that was held at a right angle.

'Take this to Ginny Weasley at 236 Gillmore Road in Arizona. Ok?' she said before letting the owl walk onto the stone just below the narrow slit window. It then gave her one more look before it turned it head to the view and began its long journey across hundreds of miles to her vivid red-headed friends. She only hoped it would get there.

She stood there watching the bird as it flapped it gigantic wings and slowly got progressively smaller until it was a small black spot and then it completely from view in the very far distance.

With a slight jump in her step Hermione turned around and began to make the long decent back down all the steps to her dormitory. She absentmindily hummed quietly to herself feeling happier than she had in a very long time, as she now felt as if the rest of the world was not so far away from her. All her friends were safe and they all carried for her

It really is magical, even to muggles, the idea that somehow when you are in a good mood the world always seems a much more beautiful place to be and everything never looks just as nomatter how dim the world looks if you are caught in a small, rare moment of pure joy, none of it matters, there is always a way around the bad things in life.

However, as with all good moments in life, it always has to come to an end eventually. And unluckly for Hermione her elation didn't last very long at all as waiting for her as she came into the dormitory was a note, a note from Professor McGonagall.

At first glance it seemed harmless and Hermione cheerfull sunk once again onto the sofa, resting her feet and open the folded peice of parchment. Written on it in her elegant script was a simple but important note;

Miss Granger,

Please meet me and Mr Malfoy in my office as 8pm sharp to discuss you upcoming duties together as head students.

Professor McGonagall.

Hermione had a slightly questionable and confused expression on her face as she searched for a clock. What could the meeting be about? However, her expression soon turned to horror as she looked at a clock above the open fireplace; it said 8:23 pm.

'Shoot' she shouted to herself as she slung herself out of the portrait for about the fifth time that day.

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><p><strong>Alright, I know there is not much in this chapter and it is short but I promise from now there will be a lot more DracoHermione moments and it will all begin to heat up in the forthcoming chapters.**

**Please try to ignore any grammatical errors as I havent really had time to look over this chapter, I just wanted to get it out. On the subject I am looking for a BETA for this story so if anybody is interested please mail me. I would like somebody to check my chapter for any mistakes and add advice and ideas to improve them. Thanks **

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	10. Price Of The Title

**Thank you again for being patient as this is the first update in a few weeks (have been on holiday) so thanks for sticking with me. **

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**So hear it is (sorry about length but I don't think it needs any more) . . . .**

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><p>Professor McGonagall and Draco Malfoy were both sat at opposite sides of her wide wooden desk sitting in an awkward silence as they both tried to look occupied whilst waiting for the third occupant to arrive. The only few words that had been spoken were when Draco Malfoy had first arrived and Professor McGonagall had told him to come in, sit down and wait for Miss Granger to arrive.<p>

Draco was calmly inspecting his black, pristine robes and was picking off miniscule specks that were so small could hardly be counted as dust, he had a bored expression on his face that had been growing more and more fed as time had worn on and seconds had began to turn into minutes and minutes had began to clump together.

McGonagall would not keep still and was feeling rather uncomfortable as more time passed and her suspicions grew, she kept shuffling the already neat stack of parchment in front of her to occupy her hands whilst her lips set themselves in a thin line as her eyes regularly darted from the empty seat in front of her to the slightly ajar door that she had expected Hermione Granger to walk through now over ten minutes ago.

At nearly eight seventeen, according to the enchanted clock that hung high on the stone wall opposite the desk that never needed winding, changing or replacing and even showed you what the weather was like outside and what the atmosphere was inside, there was a polite knock on the already open door. 'Come in' McGonagall said loudly and clearly and with a little too much enthusiasm as she had been waiting for so long in silence for that knock to arrive.

On the other side of the thick piece of oak wood that made up the door to her teachers office Hermione was rapidly trying to slow her heavy breathing that she had gained from sprinting up an endless number of staircases, she smoothed out her robes with her slightly clammy hands and held her head high as she gathered her face together and entered the room after permission was given to her.

The two faces that greeted her as she pressed her weight on the door to reveal the room in front couldn't have been more opposite to each other. Sitting furthest away from her on the far side of the large mahogany desk that was strategically placed in the centre of the stone, circular room whilst occupying nearly a third of it was her Transfiguration teacher who had a sour and disapproving look plastered on her tight face and whose eyes that were framed in her small spectacles followed the girl to the empty seat in front of her.

The other body in the room, of a slightly younger age, had looked up when she had first entered the room but had now returned to inanimately inspecting his robes as he had been doing before he was disturbed, only now when he was surveying the black material he held a slightly smug grin on his face.

Hermione could almost perfectly imagine his voice and what he would say if it was only her present and not a teacher as well. She knew it would follow something along the lines of 'not a very good impression for the Head Girl to be setting, is it now Granger? I will try not to blame you though, I suppose you can't really entirely blame yourself for being brought up by unreliable and disorganised muggles' whilst he voice was covered in heavy sarcasm and authority.

'Sorry I am late Professor, I only just received your message. You see, I had been in the Owlery delivering a letter...' She began to explain.

'Miss Granger' she interrupted to quieten the overthrown girl in front of her, her voice being commanding yet not stern, this made Hermione think that maybe six years as a prime student was beginning to pay off. Her professor couldn't be too tight on her as it was the first time she had ever arrived late or unorganised to any lesson or meeting with her.

McGonagall paused slightly to let the girl compose herself before continuing. 'I obviously do not approve of your lack of punctuality and I hope that you understand that you should be trying to set a perfect example as Head Girl.'

'Yes Professor' Hermione replied bowing her head in shame as she inspected her hands that her wringed tightly in her lap. She was trying to keep a straight face too show respect, however this did not seen as easy as it should have been because she kept hearing very soft but distict sniggers coming from the boy next to her and although she was sure only she could hear them it didn't make them less distracting.

'I am willing to try and except your apology, but I must press that I do not want to this to become a regular occurrence'

'Of course, it will not happen again'

'Thank you, and know I would like to move onto more pressing matters now that we are all here. I am sure you both realise that I called you both hear today to discuss your positions as head students.'

She paused and peered over her glasses to look at the two pupils in front of her, one looking like she was soaking up every single word she said whilst the other looked much more comfortable and was nodding his head just to show that he was listening and that he acknowledged what she said understood. She continued to address them both;

'I think you both know that this position holds a lot of responsibility and is not just a title that you can use to get your way around other students. You will both be expected to be a perfect role model for all students whilst also a friend that they can turn to. You are also a way that they can communicate through to their professors, you are in a way, the door that separates the students and the teachers; the mid-way point.'

'I am sure you are both enjoying the perks of having more space to yourselves with this position, but your work is only just beginning and I can assure you that those new, shiny badges that now hang proudly on your robes will not look so perfect and easy as what they do now.'

With this comment both students looked down at their badges as if to make sure that they had not literally began to impale in colour and fade as McGonagall's words metaphorically suggested.

'Now, along with helping fifth year prefects on their jobs you too will have your own duties that I expect to be completed to only the highest of standards. You will both have to take personal responsibility for the prefects which include organising regular meetings for them to discuss their duties, you will also be expected to carry out irregular spot checks to make sure they are all performing well and not abusing their positions. As you were both prefects two years ago I am sure you both have a decent understanding of their roles withing in school and what is expected of them.'

Whilst the professor turned over onto a new piece of parchment full of notes and re-arranged the stack in front of her Hermione took the opportunity to re-adjust her position in the slightly uncomfortable wooden seat she was sat on. She uncrossed her legs and swapped them over and laid her hands on her skirt now that she was more relaxed. Draco meanwhile sunk even further in his chair and began twiddling his thumbs over and over each other, his eyes slightly dropping so he looked like he could have easily drifted off to sleep within minutes if he was left to it.

McGonagall, realising his dreary position, coughed slightly too loudly to sound realistic which made him startle and sit straight up in his seat, looking more alert than ever. This time it was Hermione's time to softly chuckle under her breath, she saw Malfoy cast her a death glare out of the corner of her eye that left just soon as it came, but still managed to burn a hole in her left cheek.

'As you probably also know, one of the privileges of your positions is that you are excluded from evening curfews, however this does not mean that you are allowed to abuse that exception and I trust that you will use it wisely. This does also mean that you are expected to conduct full school rounds at least three times a week together.'

'What?' Draco asked, speaking for the first time that evening meaning that his voice was slightly croaky, but still powerful never the less.

'You and Miss Granger will need to conduct full school rounds at least three times a week. This is a rule Mr Malfoy.' McGonagall explained to him in a slightly more impatient manner as time was moving quickly on and it was getting late, she could not divert her mind from the fact that she had large ever-growing pile of work to mark and grade.

'Why do we have to do it together? Why can't we do it individually? I am sure this would be much more efficient and will suit both of our needs more.'

'Because, Mr Malfoy, we do not think it is right that students should be traipsing around empty school corridors late at night, alone. This is an order and failure to comply with these rules will result in serious consequences. This applies to you as well, Miss Granger.'

'Um, oh yes ,of course Professor.' She replied, a little too quickly, whilst overly-nodding her head.

The idea of spending any amount of time with Malfoy walking alone along deserted corridors was definitely not an appealing thought, though she daren't mention the way she felt, if she complained as well maybe Professors decision to cast her too this role may waver slightly.

Could Hogwarts seriously throw anything else at her? It was becoming a less and less appealing place to be with every day that went by, her earlier happiness of her contact with her old friends was practically forgotten, buried deeply underneath all of this new information.

'Well, now that we have that matter sorted, I think you can both be dismissed now. I must pressure the point that your formal duties are official beginning from the moment onwards. Have a good evening and see you both in class.'

With a quick flourish of her wand the door to her office opened with a small creak and both students slowly lifted them out of their chairs to make their way out of the room, their legs aching from stiffness of sitting still for so long.

Just as Draco was about to exit the room so his body was half and half each side of the doorway he was pulled back in by his professor once more.

'Oh, and I nearly forgot to mention that there will be a ball at the beginning of December this year for Christmas. The head thinks it will be a good idea to make it an annual event from this year forward, a fresh start. It was traditional in the time of the founder's of the school. He believes that tradition and repetitiveness is what this school needs in order too succeed. ' She said unenthusiastically so that even Hermione could pick up the loathing in her voice as she mentioned the schools new management.

'And as Head pupils you will both be expected to go together, as a couple.'

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><p><strong>So there you have it, Chapter 10! I can't promise an update this week as I am going away on Friday for 5 days and I won't have any computer or internet access.<strong>

**Any reviews are always greatly appreciated. They are all read with a huge bundle of love!**

**Reviews mean that I have a reason to write!So more reviews mean that you get more story and the more reasons, the more the writing! (if that makes sense to you!)**


	11. A Hint Of Courage

**Hello all, **

**Sorry about the slow update (holiday!) but I hope you enjoy this chapter, I have to say it was more difficult to write to the others because, well; you will see if you (hopefully!) read on. **

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><p>Seriously, could my life get any more stressful or complicated or difficult or just purely worse?<p>

How many more huge bombshells are going to be dropped right on top of me this term that I can actually put up with without eventually breaking; which, looking at the way things are going, is inevitable. My life is slowly but surely being pulled apart like an ecstatic band and with every peice of news I receive the tension gets stronger and stronger and I know that one day it will be too far and I will rebound, snap.

Hermione Granger cussed to herself as she strode hastily back to the common room after that disastrous meeting with Professor McGonagall just minutes before, Malfoy had turned off down a dark corridor as soon as he existed the clutches of the doorway, he walked so fast that she only saw his bright blonde hair disappear from sight around a sharp left hand corner.

Meanwhile, her mind was processing her recent discovery of information. Go to a ball – with Malfoy? There was no way that would ever happen, from both sides of the party. How could they put past and present years of loathing each other behind them for a night and go as a couple? It was a dream, nothing more than a dream, well actually it resembled more a nightmare for those involved and was an impossibly.

As she walked back to the common room she was unknowingly muttering sharply under her breath and shaking her head as if to shake out the facts that laid there. Just by looking at her concentrated eyes and her jaw that was chewing at the side of her cheek you could tell that her brain was ticking over the information supplied to her, trying, and unsuccessfully at that, to find a loophole that she escape through.

She had been up to the landscape painting of the picturesque painting so often know that she knew the way almost as well as she did for classrooms where her lessons had been held year after year, this meant that she didn't have to look at where she was going, so instead she bowed her head and followed her feet as their carried her towards her wanted destination. Her mind was still working on; meaning that she hardly took any notice of her surroundings as she walked through the landscape painting and through to her common room. Only when she looked up to decide where to sit and to see if the fire was on did she see that she was not alone.

This was her chance; she thought to herself, as she saw Draco Malfoy sat on one of the comfortable chairs, he did not even look up at her as she entered the room. If they were going to working together and co-operating with each other for a whole year then she would not let herself be pushed around by an equal, she thought. So, holding her head just slightly too high, she stalked over to the remaining empty sofa, sat down and began to read a book that she had retrieved from her school bag, she didn't have a clue what book it was put she just wanted something to make her look slightly preoccupied and like she had a purpose for her presence.

She sat there and opened the book at a random page on her lap, as she flitted through the pages he realised it was her charm book entitled; _ Advanced Charms; Memories, Movement and Manipulatin_g so she began to read on pages ahead of what they had even started to discuss in class.

'Excuse me?' Her head quickly flicked up in surprise, making a painful click as it did so, to glare into the questioning eyes of Malfoy who, like herself, was reading but had paused and was looking up at her with a look of disgust on his face.

'What?' She replied, matching the level of hatred he had managed to weave into his few words.

'Well, do you have a problem?'

'No, why should I?' She asked, although she could see where this conversation was clearly heading.

'I don't know if your small brain might have been able to comprehend this, Granger, but I am sitting here.'

'Very funny' she said, her eyes turning into slits as rage began to pulse through her veins, hot and irritable. She forced her eyes to divert themselves back to her book so she could look disinterested.

'So, move'

'What? Oh I get it Malfoy' Now her anger was pulsing through her like she had two hearts beating together to force it around her body, her voice had risen as she slammed the book on her lap shut, he was in for it now.

'You think that you are so high and superior over everybody else here just because of your bloody heritage. Well, guess what? I don't give a freaking' damn, if you think that I am going to let you happily walk over me like I am nothing less than a piece of dirt from the bottom of your shoe then you need to have a serious rethink!'

Her words began to slur together near the end so she paused, took a large breath, which was greeted with a smirk from across the room, and carried on. T felt good to let out all the frustration she had been bottling up over the past few weeks.

'I have just as much right to be here and sit here as you do. If your brain that is so stuffed with your own self adoration hasn't been able to realize, we are both stuck here with these stupid orders and regulations so don't think that you are some sort of special exception just because of your dirty, murderous family.'

'DON'T YOU DARE INSULT MY FAMILY, GRANGER' Draco bellowed, swiftly rising from his chair and pulling out his wand from just inside his robe pocket and pointing it straight at her in what was obviously a very practised and smooth gesture.

'Or what?' she questioned, now also standing and withdrawing her wand to match his, she also stepped into him, closing the distance between them.

'Going to fight me, are we? I would carefully think about your actions before you start threating me Granger, seriously think about them. We wouldn't like such a pure and clean person, like yourself to go to waste now would we?' He remarked, his confidence growing at the same rapid pace of hers.

'More threats, you are just pathetic as you are a bully, Malfoy' she said as she turned around, picked up her abandoned book and stormed towards her room. Just as she was opening the door a splash of yellow sparks hit the dark door frame just above her head. Her reflexes kicking into action, she quickly turned around and pointed her wand poised to duel, but all to be seen was the soft closing of the door opposite and the snake on its surface that was slowly slithering and coiling into a weary sleeping position.

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Those two particular students didn't get any sleep that night.

After Hermione had slammed her door in frustration so hard that it had shook the whole wall, she got ready for bed, as did Draco, and crept onto her comforting mattress. However, she did not sleep that night; at first she was hot then she was shivering then she was sweaty. No matter how many positions she tried to sleep in all she could do was toss and turn irritably into the early hours of the morning until her exhaustion finally engulfed her.

Draco, also, could not sleep. He lay on top of the covers of his bed so he was cool and comfortable but he just stared out through the drapes surrounding his bed and out through the corner of the window that could be seen, although the only view was only of distant navy clouds somewhere hiding a gloomy moon beneath their depths, it somehow seemed entrancing to him.

His jaw was square and taught as it always was when he has angry and his hands were fumbling with themselves so that they soon began hot and sweaty meaning that every now and again his fingers would slip beneath one another as he began hypnotised by the night sky and somewhere in the mixture of the night his view turned into a meaningless dream.

Needless to say, both students were glad when they were awakened by the sun rising over the top of the lake as even though it meant that they were once again stripped of sleep as it had been cut short the sun rising meant a fresh, new day was upon them.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Hermione had awoken that morning, thankfully, in much better spirits than she had feel asleep in the previous night, whether this was to do with the sun that was desperately trying to creep through the muggy clouds meaning that Hogwarts had been shed with the most sunlight it had in months or whether it was the knowledge that she felt that although last night had not been a complete disaster, it felt like a turning point for her.

Last night she had stood up to Draco Malfoy. That was a thing she should of done years previously but had never had found the perfect moment, from that day onward she would make sure that she would not be seen as an easy push-over, she would stand up for herself, and what better opportunity could possibly present itself to her than that very morning as she stepped out of her bedroom door.

She was humming softly to herself in a sweet daydream when she nearly bumped into Malfoy who was rummaging in his bag hastily looking for something whilst also trying to sped walk across the room , therefore meaning that he was not taking any care in looking where he was going.

'Hey' he said, a bit startled, as he looked up to see Hermione staring at him, he didn't know who he had expected her to be and if his brain was functioning properly he would obviously known that she was the only person that he could have bumped into, but after countless days of sleep deprivation his attention was not at his best and her presence came as a surprise to him.

Soon realising this, his face quickly changed from a look of startled mixed with slight fear to one of disgust.

'Mind where your spreading your filth, Granger' He spat as he hastily bent down to try and retrieve his books which had fell out of his bag when he had collided with her.

His disorientated hands were fumbling though the various books on the floor when he became acutely aware that he was scrambling on the floor by Grangers feet and she was just standing there observing him , what was even odder was that she was just standing there, still.

He looked up at her and then realised what this scene must look like from her point of view and not being able to stand the smirk that was discreetly forming on the corners of her lips he hurriedly gathered up his belongings as quickly as possible and stuffed them into his bag before straightening up so he was, once again, towering over her feeble body.

After throwing her one of the dirtiest of looks he could muster on to his aching face muscles he began to walk towards the landscape exist, but, to his surprise his path was quickly blocked by Hermione's petite body. She had moved to block his path.

'Move.' He said trying to move around her, but wherever his moved, whether it be left of right, she would also move to block his bath.

After mere seconds of these childish movements and with his anger steadily rising within him he got fed and irritable so he firmly grasped her bony shoulder and pushed her easily out of way to make himself a clear path. He was just making his way; again, within metres of his exist when he heard an abnormally confident voice come for the normally quiet and small body behind him.

'Look, Malfoy. I don't like this arrangement any more than you...' He turned around him as the voice inside him that wanted to retaliate couldn't contain itself.

'Trust me; nobody could hate this pathetic paring more than I could...' But before he could continue his rant he had been interrupted. What was happening? Shouldn't he always be the one in charge of the way the conversation headed?

'So, we might as well live with it and get over it. I am nowhere near saying that I have accepted you in any form nor that I agree or want to take part in all the duties that have been placed upon us, but I think that we should at least carry them out with some sort if dignity.'

'Dignity! You are advising me on Dignity! This has nothing to do with Dignity!'

'For heaven's sake Malfoy get a grip! Stop lashing out at me after every freakin' sentence I say and maybe we can actually get somewhere, or at least to some sort of mutual agreement.' She had pushed it too far this time, he walked up to her small frame and, once again, pulled out his wand and held it threateningly under her taught throat. Through her thin, translucent skin he could see the gulp of saliva pass down her oesophagus that proved she was scared even though she would never admit it.

However, to his surprise Hermione Granger gathered up all of her remaining courage and continued to speak, and the voice that came of her mouth did her justice as not a hint of her inside fear showed in it.

'The rounds; that is our first hurdle to overcome. We are going to have to begin this promptly because McGonagall will soon know if we don't. I think that we should carry them out at six o'clock every evening.'

'I'm busy.' He spat so that he could see it leave dark, wet marks on her robes. Hang on, did he just answer to Granger, was he listening to her? He pointed his wand further into her fragile neck so that a strong indention was made into her fragile skin.

'Um...well...then I-I suppose eight after dinner?' She questioned, her voice beginning to crack.

And with that as unexpectedly as he had first approached her he dropped his wand, picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulder in one perfectly fluid moment before he stalked out of the room, leaving her there shaking, slightly breathless but more elated than she had been in weeks.

Has she just stood up to Malfoy? And was he not the one to give in first? Had she won against him, defeated him? Had he not just held his wand against her throut but withdraw it from her after her words had been spoken to him? Had he just not stalked sulkily out of the painting angrily and left her feeling so happy and on top of the world? Was this the first ever time Draco had ever made her feel happy?

But most of all; was him not answering her question before his swift departure the equivalent to a yes? Would he be there tonight, at eight?

Hang on. Had she just called him _Draco_?

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><p><strong>Did we like or did we not like? FINALLY some sort of contact between our favourite hero and heroine (well as much as our feisty adolescents would allow!) <strong>

**As always, reviews are worth more to me than a million Galleons! **

**The more reviews we get mean that hopefully more people will read, then we get more reviews which means that I don't have to keep begging you people to write them, which means that I don't have to stretch my brain to think of this like motifs, so I can concentrate every little ounce of concentration I have onto the actual story. So that it is a better story for you to read!**

**Phew... that was a long one...**

'


	12. Reserved Rounds

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><p>After aimlessly wandering through empty corridors after slowly attempting to make her way to breakfast the next morning Hermione found herself trailing in circles around the castle on some intricate and explicit route to the Great Hall. It was not that she was avoiding it just that her head was so full crammed of thoughts and timetables and lessons that she felt that entering a crowded room full of loud youths that she hardly knew was really not going to help clear her mind.<p>

This was an excuse she was tempting herself with when really it was hard to hide the fact that the last twenty minutes had predominantly been taken up with her violently rummaging through her mind trying to find a corner of inspiration that would overcome the rapid flow of thoughts of Malfoy that were circulating around her head. Seeing Malfoy sitting coyly in that hall was probably not the best remedy that she could think of for this new formation of thoughts.

Finally, giving her tired limbs an excuse to relax, the clock churned out its song that signalled it was nine and the start of first lesson was to commence and so Hermione made her way across the floor and up the stairs to Ancient Runes.

Lessons passed sluggishly for both students that day, until it came to the final hour when somehow the Earth began to spin ten times as fast on its axis as it normally did and to both students displeasure it was quickly the end of the school day, which meant the beginning of a trivial few hours for them both.

For Hermione when the typical school day came to end she tiredly made her way back to the dormitory, her mind flooding with internal questions. Would he turn up? If he did what would they talk about for two hours? If he didn't what would she do? Would she do rounds on her own? What would she more disappointed with; if he came or if he didn't?

To pass the time until sic would come she began to make a dent into her violently expanding pile of homework that was already building up but her mind kept trailing aside and she knew it was pointless her just sitting there with her depressing pile of homework piled high in front of her so she pulled herself away from her books and tried to 'relax' on the sofa by the fire.

However, this didn't work any better. Her leg was agitatedly bouncing up down whilst her eyes kept darting to the clock on the mantelpiece, which seemed to be moving backwards if anywhere at all. After what seemed like an age of pacing and nervously sitting on the edge of her seat six came and went as quickly as light. Her palms that were sweaty began to ball up into fists as time moved on and on and nobody entered through the vacant portrait.

But then, at nearly twenty past six there came movement. The portrait slowly opened and a figure came stalking slowly in , his face was hidden in darkness as the only light was coming from the glowing fireplace, but Hermione new straight away who it was. She stood up straight and, trying to look as calm as possible, walked up to him.

'So you came then.' She said, looking him straight into those grey orbs. He shrugged.

'Quidditch cancelled' this was a complete and utter lie, Draco had been offered the place as Quidditch captain by Snape himself but he declined the offer as soon as possible. He really wasn't in the mood to play anymore, it was if the attraction that used to be as strong as gravity that had pulled it to him for the past years had suddenly vanished and now it held so more excitement than apparating.

'Right. Are we going to get going then?' She asked, almost too politely as she gestured towards the door he had just entered through seconds before.

'You don't order me around, right. There are rules. There are boundaries and you are already crossing them.' As his jaw tightened rigidly, his voice harsh and cold.

'Yeah, whatever. Are you coming or not?' As she walked causally over to the portrait hole, but as she did she stumbled over the corner table and nearly fell on the floor, only just catching herself on the edge of the chair. Her face flushed scarlet and her legs shook more than they should from a small stumble as if she was nervous or something.

Draco sniggered just over his breath so he knew that she could hear him and stalked past her out of the portrait first, his cloak billowing in her face. Once out of the hole he took the first left turning at quite a pace so that Hermione who was still gathering herself together behind him after her fall had to break into a power walk to try and not lose him around the labyrinth of stone walls that made up the castle.

She was trying to act as normal and not flustered as possible as she tried as hard as she could to slow her breathing and to quieten her feet as she slowly made up the distance between them. Due to their difference in stride lengths she had to work twice as hard as him to just keep pace, how was she going to keep this up for two hours she didn't know?

It was obvious that Draco was leading the pair, wherever he went she followed and due to just the length of his stride she didn't even have the time to get ahead. Draco stared fixed straight ahead of him and the awkward silence between them began to slowly grow and develop as time went on.

However, as the silence spread onwards and seconds turned into minutes and with nothing else to distract her Hermione couldn't help but let her mind wander aimlessly back to the worries she had had just hours ago.

Why was she so nervous about this meeting tonight? This was Draco, that selfish, stuck-up brat who she had hated for the past six years of her life. What is because she was worried that he could easily curse her without second thought that worried her and had been distracting her all day? Was it the thought that all of the aggression he had so frequently shown her could so easily come out tonight? Or was it the fact that they would have to spend hours together on their own and they would eventually have to talk and their relationship had been nothing less than tedious recently.

Well, there was nothing to be worried about there as not a syllable had been whispered the whole evening, how arrogant could he get. The silence between them was somehow even more insulting than if words were to be formed and she spend ages pondering whether to risk making an conversation before she was side-tracked by a faint giggling coming though one of the closed classroom doors on the second floor.

Malfoy had obviously heard the noise too as he swiftly turned and pushed open the un-locked door just as she was trying the handle, this small gesture annoyed her more than it should. Couldn't she even open a friggin' door without him having to beat her to it?

The door swung open to reveal a pair of what looked like third years messing around in the empty, dimly lit room. The girl was tall and had long, chocolate brown hair that fell artistically past her shoulders and down her back, and she was sitting on a desk with her skirt pushed up around the top of her thighs and her tie loosened messily around her neck. She was giggling stupidly at something that the boy must have said as she wrapped her hands around his and swayed them between their two bodies, they stared into each other's eyes whilst the ghosts of their laughs still echoed around the empty room. But as soon as they realised they had company they sprung apart in a near comical way and both looked at startled as the other as they turned to face the open doorway.

She was just about to order them to return to their houses when she was, once again, beaten to it;

'Go to bed now, or you will both receive a month's worth of detention's' Her teeth clenched tightly together as he said what should have been her words and even she did have to think that a week was month was rather steep, even for Malfoy.

Both students walked out the room as ordered, but showed no fright; they were both holding back smirks as if life was just one whole huge joke. However, their image stayed imprinted at the front of her mind, and it bothered her. As if they knew what real love was, to them love was just the status it gave them amongst their friends. Nothing compared to the deep, real connection of tiny fireworks that real love felt like.

Strangely, interrupting such a childish affair was surprisingly satisfying for Hermione, for Draco it was just a job but to her to go in there and have the authority to tell them to go back to their common rooms or have a detention sent a warm feeling through her body.

Apart from that little blimp time went slowly as they traipsed through corridor after corridor not even a word parting from either ones lips. And as timed moved as slowly as it had been doing before and their legs felt like they had walked a whole marathon after climbing countless number of steps, they finally made their way back to the portrait hole later on that night. They both let out a heavy sigh of relief as they closed their bedroom doors at opposite ends of the dormitory. Draco slid down the door contemplating the idea of another day passing without any blips. For Hermione is was a light jump onto that oh so tempting mattress as her legs slightly throbbed from hours of endless wandering that brought her joy.

But as she laid there she couldn't help but let her mind wander back to the pretty third year girl in the empty classroom. When she first saw her she felt some pang of emotion hit her and now, far away from the girl she began to realise that there was a strong chance that what she was feeling was jealously. But that was ridiculous, why should she be jealous of a thirteen year old tart? Was it the way her hair fell stylistically down the thin back or was it the carefree time she was sharing with someone. That was probably it, she was jealous of the company she shared; she was just craving for some company. She would write to Ginny tomorrow.

But her mind couldn't go off that girl and her perfect face and perfect figure and then another huge realisation hit her; Christmas was drawing nearer and nearer and that also meant the ball. She held her head in her fingertips trying to remember the date, the twenty...twenty...twenty...first? No that was last weekend...You could hear the large intake of breath that she let in when she realised it was the twenty seventh of November! No way! That meant she had less than two weeks to find a dress and prepare herself for the ball she would be going to with Malfoy! Seriously, was her life a joke?

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><p><strong>I don't know, but I don't like this chapter. I esspecaily thought that the start was very week. I was ill when writing this so don't be too harsh! I would love to know what you think of it.<strong>

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	13. Unsought Recollections

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**So let's commence this week's chapter . . .**

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><p><em>Dear Ginny, <em>

_How are things in America? I haven't received any reply from you yet but I need to write. Last night I had a realisation, the Christmas Ball is twelve days away and I have to go with MALFOY! I really haven't been paying much attention to the date recently, with all things considered, and last night whist I was lying in bed it suddenly dawned on me that the end of November is drawing nearer and nearer. _

_I have given no thought into what I am going to do about this disastrous pairing that I am forced to comply with, let alone what I going to wear or how I am even going to act for that matter! Even just writing this now my heart is beginning to race and my palms are beginning to sweat just thinking about what the near future holds and how the hell I am going to survive it on my own! _

_That's where you come in. I know it is impossible for us to really 'talk' but I really need your support now more than ever. This morning, in my desperation, I consulted McGonagall about a trip to Hogsmeade and she confirmed that there would be one next weekend, so at least I will have a chance to buy a dress then, a task that alone makes me want to just go back to bed. What the hell am I going to wear? There is not really anyone here at Hogwarts that I can talk to that can help me pick and all I know about the Ball is that it is held in celebration for Christmas and should become an annual event from this year forward. What the hell does that say about the dress code? What should I wear – how formal should it be? Colour, shape, style? Oh, how much I would give for you to be here right now, Ginny!_

_Anyway, enough about my adolescent troubles, how is everybody out there? How's school? – And Ron - is he well? _

_Really hope (ok, I admit, practically praying!) to hear from you soon. _

_Hermione x x x_

She sealed the letter with a quick flick of her wand and trudged up the familiar route to the Owlery to get it sent to America by a tawny owl in the early hours of the next morning before even the birds had began to sing. She was so desperate to send this letter; it was as if just sending it on its way just would somehow make her one step closer to solving her problems. Not that this was right, sending the owl would only make her more nervous and paranoid for a reply, there was a chance the owl wouldn't even make it out of the English border. Well, to be honest this wasn't a complete lost hope as seeing that owl fly away on its long journey did cheer her up and raise her spirits, even if it was just slightly.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

_Dragon, _

_Under my order you should proceed to take action concerning the plan of action we discussed at our last meeting. I will expect a full report back to me in a week's time. I will call for you. _

Draco's hand trembled as he read the message that had been delivered to him very early that morning before the sun had even risen. He stared at the few words etched on the dirty scrap of parchment as if they were, in themselves, dangerous. Literally they could not hurt him, but the order that was communicated through them was more problematic than you could even begin to imagine.

It was obvious the letter was from the Dark Lord as at their last meeting he had been told that, when concerning letters, he would be known as 'Dragon' – the translation of the Latin word, and his name, 'Draco'. What worried him more were the orders that were mentioned in the letter, not necessarily the sender at that moment in time.

They had all discussed this at their last meeting and it was decided, that when the time was appropriate, a sign would be send to Draco telling him to begin the first stage of his project; to collect information on Hogwarts and how the other side was resisting the infiltration of the school. He was to report their strengths and weaknesses so that his Lord could crush them in the necessary areas.

He would have to plan an outing around the castle, rounds would be perfect if he could just shake of Granger, but that was an impossibility so he would just have to pay specific attention during his normal school day and would have to sneak out after rounds. Once more this meant less sleep for him tonight.

Once again lessons that day were less than uneventful. The Carrow's and the rest of the teachers that had taken over with Snape were like living, breathing versions of hell. It seemed that there were no limits to what they were entitled to do; curse, torture, hand out an unlimited of punishments. It was also becoming blatantly clear through the haze of discipline that they had one main target: muggle borns.

Time passed by in oddly shaped clumps, sometimes in lessons like McGonagall's that were a refuge to most from many of the others, it seemed like as soon as they entered through the doorway they were being dismissed. In others like Defence of the Dark Arts, which now resembled more a testing room for new dark curses than a classroom, time passed slower than seemed humanly possible and crept by as slowly as a drowsy snail.

However, no matter how painstakingly slow these lessons seemed to pass they were nothing really compared to the awkwardness that seemed to surround and encase both Hermione and Draco during that nights' rounds.

Again, not a word was uttered between the pairing and as Hermione's mind drifted towards the upcoming ball that she was dreading more than she had any other thing as far back in her memories as her mind could take her, the others mind was also spinning.

Draco's mind was firmly concentrating on devising a master plan for that nights wandering that he was planning on taking so he could find out some valuable information, any piece of information that was needed for the Dark Lord. The sooner he completed his job the quicker he could alert his master and get back to concentrating on his school work, which was, to his discontent was lacking this year.

Therefore due to this plan Draco found himself walking faster and faster through empty castle corridors on rounds, and that night Hermione's legs ached more than ever.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Around an hour later, when all was settled and the castle was in a deep sleep Draco was just slipping out through a small crack in the portrait. He poked his head out of the small gap between picture and wall and looked left and right, right and left until finally coming to the conclusion that he was safe to leave the security of his dormitory as that the castle was clear of any human presence, or that corridor at least.

He grasped his ten inch Hawthorn wood in his slightly clammy hand. Through the day he had constructed a rough plan for what he was going to do that night and now as the time approached midnight his eyes began to eventually give in and feel heavy whilst his legs dragged like two lumps of lead attached to his body.

His idea was that he would make one round across the whole of the main castle building and then a quick look at the Astronomy Tower where most of the grounds could be seen, before returning to his well-deserved bed. This at least gave him something to report as he could say that he was looking for any abnormal behaviour outside of school hours.

What the Dark Lord really wanted was conformation that some sort of secret society and planning was being held in Potters honour, as this gave him a spot to pin point and a reason to attack. However, under the surface Draco dared to wonder whether he was just desperate to have something to hold onto and tell his followers. There had been no major revelations since Dumbledore's death the previous term, apart from the infrequent mere muggle attack, so a spark in the Wizarding world was all he really needed to start of his domino effect.

As these thoughts processed through Draco's mind it made him wonder and remember those bleary, unclear moments that had resulted in his Headmasters demise. In truth, he couldn't remember a lot as he has seemed to become more and more incoherent during those fatal last minutes and even now, months after, he had not allowed himself to make the effort and try to remember what had happened.

All he was sure of was that at first he was running up stairs to the Astronomy Tower where he met Dumbledore and he had disarmed him. Then they had talked, Dumbledore wanted him to deny his part in his planned murder, but he couldn't, he wouldn't and his hand was poised ready to fire that one fatal curse .Then suddenly he had company and from that moment onwards his senses had seemed to have failed him, all he was aware of was that his hand was loosening, dropping to the floor. Laughs, screams and sparks were what he could remember next. Followed by faint visions of running, so much running. Then suddenly he was gone, he had left in his cowardice.

Back to present Draco's senses had seemed sharpened by his recollections and his breathing had sped up so that in the cold winter's night you could see his heavy breath, white, in front of you. No matter the cold outside he was hot, boiling hot from his memories and thick black travelling cloak he had put on. And so he went to go and rest his sweaty forehead against a cool slab of stone wall, his wand loosing and lowering in his grip.

'Aheem' a cold voice sounded from nowhere near him, he quickly open his eyes with his attention stood up straight, wand poised to fight. His tired eyes seemed to take an age to distinguish who the blurry, black figure was just meters in front of him. After they finally adjusted he realised who it was, and he didn't know whether he felt relief or anger that it was that man who had found him. Him being Professor Snape.

'Proffesor' he addressed him.

'Mr Malfoy, may I ask what you are doing roaming around empty corridors at this time at night?' He asked in his usual emotionless tone.

'Surely, that same question can be pressed to you, Professor?' He said, toying with his professor's thin strings.

'Need I remind you of the new punishments that have been rolled out through the school? From what I have heard, Mr Malfoy, you are not acceding anybodies expectations academically this year. If I were you I would be trying to show what I capable of right now in this so uncertain climate, don't you agree?' His eyes as piercing as sharp and dark as an eagles stared in Draco's, obviously hinting to him.

Draco could think of no better reply than a confident shrug of the shoulders.

Snape placed his large hand on Draco's pushing him firmly into the hard stone wall. 'Now is not the time to be playing games, let me insure you. Now is also not the time to be found lurking suspiciously round in dark corridors late at night. Be careful Malfoy, very careful.' He spat the last few syllables so that a few damp flecks left dark freckles on Draco's black cloak.

And with that he immediately let go and walked swiftly round the empty corridor without a backward glance, leaving a slightly shaken, incoherent Draco limp against the stone where he slid down the wall, his exhaustion finally getting a tight grasp on him.

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><p><strong>And exhaustion is finally getting a grip on me so all I can say is that a review is more welcoming to me than a hot chocolate on a cold winter's morning!<strong>

**More reviews prove that there are more amazing people in the world than what I knew off before this chapter was posted. Go on, be amazing!**


	14. Tad of Anger?

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><p>Draco awoke, several short hours later, in an aching body hunched against the stone wall in the exact position he had fallen in earlier that morning. What must have woken him was the rising sun as it was just becoming noticeable through a glass-less window in the castle walls at the end of the corridor, flooding the whole space with light.<p>

Draco, realising that he was lying on the floor in an open corridor at a very early hour in the morning when he should be in bed, slowly started to make his mind tick once again. He pushed his weighty body slowly of the floor with his shaky arms, his whole figure throbbing painfully from the distorted position he had been in for the last few hours.

He then began to slowly stumble back, the journey that should have been made hours before, too the only place where he belonged at the moment; in bed.

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The rest of the castle then began to slowly murmur and awake from that time; teachers being first to wake as usual, followed by anxious fifth-years hoping to get some studying in before lessons started. Next to haul themselves of bed were the most unwilling of first-years who were still adjusting to the new routine, and last to rise were normally the seventh years who were so used to the Hogwarts way of life they didn't bother to rise early and would rush around gathering their belonging before trudging to their first lesson, most ignoring breakfast. This was the normally pattern that students and teachers usually followed, well, except for a certain two, of course.

The two that we are following in this most unusual of all stories awoke early, get ready quickly and then existed through the portrait hole, narrowly missing each other. Here their ways departed until they were reunited at around six that night for rounds, whilst other nights it was an evening of studying alone and late nights. Until they awoke early the next morning.

-0-0-0-0-0-

And this pattern continued for the next couple of weeks; unsettled risings, dark diminished lessons that dragged on, this was followed by silent rounds and sleepless nights. And that was really all that the shortening days came to; not much of a childhood for both.

Draco had send a letter to the dark lord after his little expedition and had yet to receive a reply, but to be truthful he was glad of this; no news to him was the best sort of news.

However, this was not a mutual feeling shared with Hermione. She had, also, had no reply from any of her letters. Not hearing from Ginny was the worst feeling, it hung over her like a thunder cloud, and with each day that passed she was getting more and more worried. What if something had happened to her and she didn't know? She had absolutely no contact with the outside world, with her parent's minds being obliviated shortly into that summer holidays with Harry's true intentions coming to show and then all her friends going their separate ways her life literally consisted of Hogwarts.

And so this was why, when a letter arrived for her just over two weeks after she sent one to Ginny, before she even opened it to reveal the sender her heart was flying somewhere around her head, making her eyes sting but her soul soar.

She hurriedly broke the seal that kept the parchment private and in a neat roll and scanned through the script as fast as her pupils could go without causing her pain.

_Dear Otter, _

_It's been too long, I know. I am sorry, what more can I say other than the word sorry. I hope that you are well in your place of residence as is turning out to be as good as it always has been. However, I can't help but wonder that everything would have changed; even in the weeks that I last heard from you I can almost guarantee that your response will be full of deterioration in standards. _

_I have been busy, doing what I cannot put in writing but I am sure you can make a pretty good yet educated guess. However, developments have been slow and it has come to the time when I ask for your help. I know you too well to know that you will be sure to accept and as our communication is slight I will tell you know what my job is that I ask of you. _

_It is simple really. Basically I need inspiration for a project I have been working on and I believe that within the walls that you are reading this right know hold the key to unlock what I have been searching for; like a missing puzzle piece. _

_I know this is extremely vague but I can only hope that when in doubt of what I ask that you once again turn to your most trusted source in hope that, if asked long enough it will finally make the answers clear. _

_How am I – I bet that's what you are really asking yourself right now. I am fine, not perfect, as nobody is now-a-days but quite adequate. Every night I wish that we could all be reunited again, that is all I really hope for now. I can't help but wonder whether that everybody that I care for is alright, I have no real connection and no way of knowing at the moment._

_With love,_

_Stag_

Coming to the end of the letter for the third time Hermione was pressing her lips together in a tight smile, but trying to keep the tearful noises from coming up from her throat just leaded to her making strange, wet and wheezy babbling sounds. Her eyes had misted over and the writing became fuzzy through them, and as she wiped them on her dark jumper she wondered as she saw the wet material turn a dark black colour. Through all the darkness one tiny peice from the heart could change the look of everything. Like Harry's short letter made that thunder cloud just a little bit brighter.

Was Harry's letter was cryptic? Yes. But did she know what he meant? Of course she did, this was Harry she was thinking about. Her best friend, even when he wrote in the vaguest of language she felt like he was whispering all the meanings behind the words in her ear.

And then the bell rang signalling the start of first lesson, so Harry's letter was discarded on the table, but definitely not put out of mind.

That chilly day that was tipping on the brink of the harsh winter that was so inevitable at Hogwarts; it came and went whether you were a fan or not. That particular Tuesday was so tightly packed that with each lesson Hermione had and with each piece of homework that was beginning to make a weighty pile in her bag; Harry's letter got pushed further and further from the front of her mind.

Lessons. Homework. Lonely Dinner. All of this was adding up meaning that she was in positively horrid and impulsive mood that night for one of the now four rounds that were conducted each week; McGonagall had come to the decision that now four times a week would be necessary due to this year's particularly cocky third-year students. All her problems were swimming in the front her mind as she was left waiting for Malfoy, once again, so that they could leave for their tour of the castle; her anger was latterly brimming and spilling over the top of its limit.

Eventually, fifteen minutes later, he confidently sauntered in with his Slytherin robe casually slung over one shoulder and a smile plastered on his face, his eyes shining.

'Finaly' she muttered as she stalked straight pass him, waiting for him to follow. This gesture meant that his cocky grin quickly disappeared from his once glowing face.

So the silence began as per the same as every time that had been forced in this situation, but that day it was tenser than usual due to Hermione's bad mood. This was constant until around an hour had passed and they had just shooed a bunch of chatting forth years from outside the Gryffindor common room back to bed when finally, after weeks of trepidation, a word was spoken or rather several.

'Oh for fucks sake Malfoy, is your mouth permanently stuck together or something?' She blurted out to him in an empty but echoing corridor, this made him stop with a start and look at her for the first time since that eventful meeting in McGonagall's office all those weeks ago.

'What did you just say to me you filthy mudblood?' His anger rising heatedly in his chest as his face suddenly turned harsh and cold.

'Wow, that's a new insult, very inventive. And, if you were capable of using your ears, I was just mentioning how frickin' childish you are being.' Her hands on her hips like she was telling off a bickering infant who had stole a quill of another.

'Oh, go find a mirror already' He retorted, his hot breath now steaming out of his nose in great puffs, whist his loud voice echoed through the deserted passages.

'You have problems, Malfoy. I am so fibbing fed up of you behaviour! We have spent hours together most nights for the past three weeks and you have not uttered a word. Do us all a favour and get your stuck-up head out of that huge arse of yours.'

He grabbed her shoulder and roughly pushed her against the walls so she could feel his sticky breath on her collarbone and their bodies were just inches away, her breath now beginning to show in the cold night, showing up like a told whisper. And in this moment that she should have felt feeble and threatened but suddenly this didn't seem to bother her at all; so she used this new found numbness and so continued as best as she could.

'We're going to have to talk eventually so stop being such a cow and let it start now. Or can your small brain not register what I am telling you? Hmmm?' she questioned him, pointing to her mouth with her free hand and exaggerating her movements, whilst keeping a surprisingly strong eye contact with him, and spoke loudly and slowly as if addressing a young, incoherent child.

'Lose your fibbing austerity and family dignity and do one decent thing and T.A.L.K' she said, slightly over exaggerating the 'k' in 'talk' so it left specks of spit on his pallor face.

He let out a grunt before piercing her with his eyes, colder than ice, and pushing her even further into the wall before turning around and stalking off in the opposite direction. Leaving a dumbfounded and slightly breathless Hermione, once again, amazed at what she had just done.

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'Ergghh! I hate that fucking Granger! Who the fuck does she think she is? Ergghh' He shouted to himself banging the wall with his fist, but too angry to notice it was beginning to bleed, whilst kicking the wall; splintering the wood and leaving gouges. If he had known that frickin girl was going to be Head Girl there wasn't a chance in hell that he would have agreed to be Head Boy, no matter what that fricking name meant to his family. He was really starting too loath that title with pure hatred; Head Boy.

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><p><strong>So that's it I know it's another shortie and I'm sorry, but what more is there to write. I am going to try and change my plan of chapters to speed this story up so you don't get fed up by it. I do realise that this is chapter 14 and not a lot had happened so sorry – but i suppose if you like that relaxed way of life then your satisfied! <strong>

**Of course any kind of feedback is always always always appreciated more than you can think of (unless you also write and you know exactly the feeling I am thinking off when you see a full inbox!)**

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	15. What To Do?

**Hello. I am so so so sorry for the very very long gap between this and my last update but life has been getting on top of me and I have been really busy. A couple of things to mention about this chapter:**

**1. In the past weeks I have been looking for a Beta, I found one and I sent her this chapter but she hasnt got back to me with it yet so this chapter in un-betaed and not checked by me as I just wanted to get it out in it's rough form so you know I havent given up ! : ) This also means that there should be another update of this chapter in the not-so-distant future so you dont have to read it again, but if you do want to then yay!**

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><p>Saturday. Hogsmeade. Heaven.<p>

Week to ball with .

The weekend trip that Hermione had been dreading for so many reasons, but looking forward to so many more had finally come. Her homework was done and she was looking forward to being able to relax and wind down, even if it did mean having the job of finding a dress to wear.

The day began in high spirits with a hearty breakfast and then her duties as Head Girl supervising the younger years out of the school and escorting first years into the village. And then, when they had all dispersed themselves, she was free to browse alone.

She pulled her scarf tightly around her neck to keep her neck warm and walked towards her first port of call: Madame Godfreys Gowns for All Occasions. As she opened the door to the cosy little shop a little bell rang signalling her arrival and her nose was filled with the heavily perfumed scent that only nearly too sweet.

Hunched over the wooden desk in the corner was a little aged-lady who although had a crippled back and older face looked kind, had a warming smile; showing signs of a beauty in her youth. She was wearing an elaborate dress full of rich colours layered on another but all clashing with complicated patterns and intricate designs. It was withered at the ends showing signs of much love and care but also a lot of usage. However, even though her clothing was individual, surrounding her was rack after rack of luxurious dresses in every colour of the spectrum that all Hermione could do was stare at in awe.

Although she had been past this shop many a time in the last seven years she had never felt the need to go in, along with the fact that her two best friends were boys so dress shopping was never really at the top of her to-do list.

As she ran her forefinger down the length of one of the rack, feeling the fine silk beneath her fingertips, for once in her life she was utterly dumbfounded at the choices in front of her. How the hell was she meant to pick a single dress from all of these?

She began by flicking through and trying to decide on a colour or shape or style: really anything that would deduce her options down. After trying, and failing, to pick a single dress that stood out from the many others after and fifteen minutes of hard concentration she gave up and went in look for help. They only other body in the shop was the old lady: Madame Godfrey.

Hermione walked up to the desk and coughed rather loudly so that the women, who had her back to her, turned around with a slightly startled expression on her face than turned into smile when it met Hermione's.

'Yes, dear' the old women asked inquisitively, but politely, in her slightly wispy voice.

'Hello. I'm looking for a dress, for an um...ball?' Her statement turned into a question on its last syllable as if what she was saying was somewhat trivial.

'Ah, a Hogwarts student I presume. Very well then, what type of gown are you looking for?' she continued to question as she walked around the worn desk so that she was nearer too Hermione, it was only now that she realised she had very petite with a bent back and slight limp in her heavy footing.

'Um...well...we have a ball, so I suppose something formal?' she questioned her own judgement.

'Of course dear. Just this way,' as she signalled to a long rail that was full of trailing dresses. She stepped back and looked over Hermione's petite frame with a scandalizing look plastered on her face. Hermione blushed deeply as she was being looked over, and those few seconds seemed to trail by as slow as a broken clock. Then, finally, the old women turned to face the rail, brought out and worn and crooked wand from her cloak pocket and raised it in the air above her head.

'producto produxi productum pro sus' she spoke faintly under her breath so it sounded more like a chant than a spell.

Suddenly out of rack flew several dresses slightly bobbing up and down in mid air, so their skirts billowed with every soft rise and fall.

'Here you go, try these on if you would, dear. 'Then she limped back to her place behind her small wooden desk. Hermione then walked, slightly numbly, forward with her mouth slightly open in a round hole of surprise.

'No, no dear, the dressing rooms are that way.' The elderly woman pointed behind her head. Hermione slightly crossed her eyebrows in slight confusion and walked to where she was being directed, and to her surprise the garments followed obediently behind her.

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Three quarters of an hour later Hermione emerged from the shop with her arms laden with bags, she squinted into the bright sunlight and walked down the road, content in the knowledge that she could relax and enjoy the day safe in the knowledge that her quest was complete.

She spent the day happily wandering from Dervish and Banges, Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop and Honeydukes before finally retiring to The Three Broomsticks will aching feet but an empty purse.

So after rounding up the first years , who seemed to have spent all their savings in Zonko's, and patrolling them all back to Hogwarts she fell asleep feeling exhausted but more fulfilled than she had in weeks, forgetting that the ball was the evening of the next day.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

_Black, shades of black if ever that was possible, were swirling in and out, no, around each other in intricate detail. Then these shapes turned in figures who coloured themselves in so they resembled humans. These unknown human then morphed into two of some that she knew very well: Harry and Ron. _

_But they were there and then they weren't, they were still there physically but they looked distant and confused as if they didn't recognise her, they had never known her. Their faces were strange and distorted and looked as if there was something writhing under their__ skin, manifesting itself..._

And then she awoke hot and reduced to sweat. Her breathing was hard and ragged as she struggled for clear breaths. She wiped her sticky forehead with the back of her clenching palm and set herself up so she was probed against her pillows, as if she was a maiden sick in bed.

Visions of her past nightmare came rushing back in uneven droves, making her feel slightly dizzy. The ball was today.

She stepped out of bed, her sweaty feet making footprints on the floorboards, she grasped a piece of parchment from her drawer and began to write a reply to Harry's recent letter, trying to give herself something to occupy her hands if not her mind.

_Dear Stag,_ her hand began to scribe onto the rough paper

_I understand. All is well. Miss you too._

_Otter._

Words cannot emphasise the amount that she wanted to write more: she wanted to write of all her problems, of new teacher and bad methods, she wanted to talk about Malfoy and his attitude. But most of all she just wanted to talk, talk about things which they used to talk about; like what they were getting Ron for Christmas or the upcoming Quidditch match against Slytherin which they so wanted to win. However, no matter how much she wanted to say any of this she couldn't say a word because in these times she everything had been snatched from her, even her ability to chat with friends like any adolescent should be entitled too.

After she sent the letter she tried her very best to relax for what the future of that day would hold. Even though it was a Sunday there was no school on Monday or Tuesday before lessons recommenced on Wednesday and then end of term feasts were held on Friday.

As she walked the corridors she noticed that people were already winding down for the holidays, many were chatting with friends in the corridors whilst others braved the harsh wind to go outside and have a brisk stroll around the lake, but everyone was happy and well.

The day dragged on and on...and on. It felt like a week had passed before lunch came, but when it was put in front of her all she could eat was a piece of bread as it felt as if her stomach was tied in strong knots around themselves.

No wanting to seem to enthusiastic, mainly to herself, she didn't want to begin to get ready for the ball until around four; as she was to meet Malfoy at six-thirty just outside the front doors of the Great Hall.

However, as soon as the clock struck three time seemed to whizz past in a blur so that four soon became moments away and the time was nigh for it all to begin.

She traipsed herself back to the common room where she began by taking a long and cool shower that was intended to unknot the muscles in her stomach and back, but failed making her just shiver uncontrollably.

She wrapped herself in one of Hogwart's many soft, fluffy towels: securing her hair in another on top of her head. She then went through each stage of preparing her body as if it was an army operation, but taking much more time and thought than what she would have normally done.

Next she applied her make-up to her delicate features, which she hardly ever wore as she had never really ever seen the need to wear it at school. In truth, the last time she had ever dressed up for anything like this was in her forth year when she went to the Yule Ball with Viktor Krum.

She tinted her eyelids with a pale pink shade the glittered slightly in the light; to this she added harsh black eyeliner and mascara to her already full eyes, which enlarged her chocolate orbs. Next she painted a slight rose to her high cheekbones to frame the rest of face. She had been luckier than most adolescents to have relatively spot-free skin meaning that she had no real need for foundation cover-up. Thus making her looks beautifully natural.

After adding subtitle perfections to her face Hermione next went on to battle with her array of curls. She piled then high on top of her head in intricate swirls that weaved in and out of each other delicately. She also left a strand of her hair free on her face, just covering her eyes. For once her hair was silky and smooth and its natural highlights reflected in the light to make it take on new dimensions, little did she know that she was making herself about to be a beauty.

Finally, she tugged on her new dress. The dresses that the old women in the shop had magically picked were all individual pieces of art in themselves; she only hoped that her small frame would not ruin them. After a thoughtful process of deduction, trying each dress on and being careful not to look at the price tag! She chose the perfect one. She tried not to believe that it didn't matter what she wore as there was nobody to show it too, but she couldn't resist the temptation of picking the most stunning one she could, she just wouldn't be able to afford anything for the next few months due to the haughty price and thought that she would probably never wear it again.

Now she thought about it, and the butterflies inside her had begin to turn to flapping birds, she regretted this decision. Why couldn't she have flunked and said she was ill? What was she thinking? And then another, more painful, thought struck her: she wouldn't need any money for months as she had nobody to spend it on for Christmas this year. This thought made her sign heavily and her short-lasted cheery mood was replaced by a dark cloud.

She gave herself a final check in the mirror. She wore a dress that was pale pink in colour, the kind that is normally stereo-typed for baby girls. It was strapless and flowed and billowed like a cloud caught up in the wind, but had a sequined belt just below the bust that brought it all together in a crimp. The intricate detailing on the belt contrasted with the plain, just above knee length skirt that held a slight glitter in the light. When she twirled it moved with her, flowing and swirling around her small figure: for once in a long time she actually liked the way she looked.

Before leaving she sneakily picking up her wand and placed in a pocket that was concealed within the fold of her dress, then she looked at the time t discover that she was already five minutes late. Would she ever be on time?

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><p><strong>Thanks for reading!<strong>

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	16. Care to Dance Care to Kiss?

**Really, really update for no updates in like ages! This is still un-beta-ed but never mind!**

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><p>Draco looked from left to right, right to left and then back again.<p>

Where was Granger? She was already nearly ten minutes late and they were meant to be entering together in literally seconds. He anxiously kept checking the clock hung upon the stone wall of the corridor whilst tapping his foot impatiently against the hard stone floor.

Fellow students gave him odd looks as he stood there awkwardly, alone. Some laughed at his lack of date, these he glared at until they quickly scuttled on out of sight, whilst others flicked cautious glanced at him before gossiping behind open hands to mask their faces. He couldn't help but wonder at the happy couples that kept passing him by, happy and care-free in each other's company, ready to enjoy the night that lay ahead.

Being in his seventh and final year he was finding that he knew, or at least knew-off, most of the faces that passed him by. Although, keeping this in mind he was surprised to find that nobody stopped to gain conversation with him – since when did his lack of popularity disappear? Well, even he could answer that, it was when he began to neglect his social life for other more pressing matters. Even Blaise passed by without a glace in his direction.

He had made the effort to arrive on time, to dress himself well for the occasion and to try and be in a somewhat positive spirit for the night ahead, but his mood was rapidly disappearing nothingness as seconds continued to tick by.

And then, when he had resorted to resting himself against the wall and was slowly sliding down it, he saw her. At first he didn't recognise her as she made her way through the sea of people passing in and out of the great hall where the ball was being mainly held. When she finally made eye contact with him through the mass of bodies, he recognised her. This was just before she bowed her head in a deep blush- he hadn't even looked at her yet and she already thought that she was complimenting him!

When she did manage to pass through the crowds she looked hot and flustered, but he finally got a look at what she was wearing. He had to admit it to himself, he was impressed, and she looked half decent when she bothered to make the effort! He had expected her to turn up in jeans and a t-shirt, if her past clothing experiences that she had been wearing around the dorm were anything to go on.

Her dress was, well, pink and he had to admit it made her look a lot slimmer, or whether it was the only figure hugging piece of clothing she had ever shown to him that made him notice this he didn't know. The material was thin and silky looking, so it shined in the flickering lights of the lit candles, it flowed down her body but gathered around her ribcage, lengthening the skirt and adding curves,. He had to admit he nearly wouldn't have recognized her and even he thought her outfit was well chosen and suited her very well.

He then moved his gaze to her head, for once her hair was under control and pinned up elegantly that framed her face and gave it shape and style. She had obviously made an effort with her face that looked discretly simplte but enlarged her chesnut eyes and plumb lips. Draco couldn't help but find any other word to describe her other than pretty.

Wait did he seriously just admit that to himself! Pretty! He didn't call anyone pretty, he had never once truly called a women pretty in his life and there his mind was making up words like that without his control.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Out of breath and flustered Hermione searched the crowds for that one body. Then she found him, lolling against the wall: with a straight jaw and his eyes darting around, searching, searching for her. Somehow this idea made her blush, and just as she came through the crowds and their eyes met.

She finally got a look at him when the crowds parted: as she suspected he wore an expensive looking suit .But what she didn't expect was how shocked she was at his, well, handsomeness. When he made the effort he really did scrub up well; but not for one minute did this shift her absolute loathing for him and his horrid personality, well this is what she tried to tell herself.

She walked towards his figure and he nodded in recognition of her presence .

'Finally' he muttered sarcastically under his breath before beginning to walk off towards the entrance to the hall.

'Look' she hissed as he touched his retreating back to get his attention 'I'm here aren't I? Can't we just get this night over and done with as smoothly as possible – do you think you can manage that?'

'Do _you _think you can? I'm not taking instruction from you but please can we at least pretend that we acknowledge each other, just for one night?'

'Whatever Malfoy' She hastily retorted, before following him into the hall. She was just admiring the extravagant decorations that included several heavily decorated trees and floating balls of light that slowly bobbed around the ceiling when the couple was caught by very stressed looking Professor McGonagall.

'Ah, here you are: Malfoy, Granger.' She said hurriedly. 'Well, you both look vey presentable, well done. But it's your time now. '

Hermione furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and was just about to open her mouth to speak when...

'What do you mean, it's our time?' Malfoy coyly retorted.

'It's your time to make an entrance and dance the first dance together as head students, the headmaster has decided that this should be the new tradition.' She explained as her blue eyes flitted between the two sets in front of her. When neither of them made any attempt to follow her simply said 'come' before hurrying off toward the double doors that they had only just come through.

For one moment Hermione and Draco exchanged a look of pure disgust and distaste with each other, but for that one moment it was as if they were communicating like any other two friends do when looks can explain more than a thousand words, In that one moment when their eyes were interlocked Hermione felt something, although it may have been far deep down inside of her, that she didn't recognise. And so as they both turned away after only a second had passed she blushed deep scarlet for reasons even she didn't know.

However, realising that she might as well, literally, face the music she raised her hands to her head to reflexively check that her hair was alright before following suit of her professor. Once Granger had gone Draco had no other choice but to follow her quickly retreating figure into the crowds.

He followed her through the brimming crowds until he came to a hault by McGonagall and Granger, but on his way couldn't help but look around and release how 'pretty' his date really looked compared to the others he had set eyes on. Even fellow Slytherins looked on at her as she weaved through the crowd, turning the most unlikely of heads.

'Now, on my signal you two will enter together through these doors, walk to the centre of the floor and waltz for the first dance. Then I will join in too, but I expect you to complete several dances together until the crowds have dispersed, then you are free to go. Thank You. 'And with that McGonagall left, closing the doors behind her, leaving the two students together in silence, questions on both of their throats but no opportunity to be asked.

'Granger?' Draco asked, showing his arm out in a period manner but with a smirk thick of total sarcasm plastered on his face at her look of total disgust that flashed upon her face when she saw his action.

He stuck it still closer to her, emphasising it with a nudge.

'Oh, fine then.' She said laying her arm on top of his.

'I wasn't asking for your approval.' And with that they grasped each other's arms in a firm but slightly delicate hold and waited.

And then, appearing out of the thick twilight air a small, gold firework that whizzed until it formed a neat number three in the air. Hermione and Draco looked at each other in slight surprise before turning back just in time to see it turn to a two –it was counting down.

A second later it turned to a one and then, on their own accord, the double doors opened to the full hall just as they could hear Professor McGonagall finished her sentence '-and Hermione Granger' , this was followed by a large round of applause.

As they walked in she saw that the students had formed a human corridor leading the pair to the empty centre of the floor. Hermione sneaked a peek at Malfoy through the corner of her eye; he was calm and collected as normal. That was the complete opposite of her, she was blushing so much she felt as if she had been dropped into the peak of summer in the hottest of places.

The runway to the centre of the floor seemed to be getting further and further away even as she continued to stride on, and then in a literal blink of the eye she was there: stand opposite from Draco Malfoy – his hand on her waist on hers on his surprisingly firm shoulder.

And then the music began; a strikingly fast waltz. And they were off. Malfoy was an obvious leader and had most probably been trained in dance, but for once that didn't care. She was flying, sweeping and circling around the hall in a crazy yet smooth dance. Her head was spinning but she felt so free and in those few precious seconds so very, very happy.

In the firm arms of her childhood enemy she felt more alive than what she had felt in months.

But as soon as those few seconds began to turn into full moments the hold was gone, and she was dumped firmly back onto earth again in a confused heap. She looked around and to her surprise the floor was full of moving bodies crossing around them in a flurry of bodies and colour.

She stared into the eyes of her partner before he let his gaze lift and he left her, in the middle of the dance floor: alone.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Draco couldn't help but notice how alive her eyes looked when he watched her dance with him; the light that bounced from them was magically entrancing. But soon he had to let go, let her go. His mind was playing tricks on him, making him think things he didn't think. However, he had an answer and just as it happens he was in the perfect place for it: drink.

And so he left her waiting in the middle of the floor.

Seven Galleons and around fifteen fire whiskeys later and Draco Malfoy was sloshed. He stumbled between similar bodies to himself as he searched for the exit doors: the drink had done its job and now he was just beginning to get a bit flustered and frustrated in the heat of the night.

He spun around and around on spot, already swimmingly dizzy, trying to locate door – and then he spotted a wall where loads of people seemed to be filing out of, he set this straight in his line of sight.

He slowly and sloppily made his way to the exit, stumbling and crashing into many on his route – gaining a few complaints and drunken grumbles on the way. His aim was to get to the dorm, how long that would take he didn't know.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Hermione didn't wait long enough at the dance for her to presence to be worn out or her dress and effort to be hardly noticed by anyone before she decided to leave.

Once she got into her much-loved dormitory she quickly changed into her old comfy pyjamas – although thankful she was taking the intricate dress off, she couldn't help but wish she had gotten some more wear out of it, or at least someone had noticed her efforts. She happily pulled of the high impractical high-heels and let her bare feet walk free, but achingly, around her room.

Swamped in her slightly depressing thoughts she settled herself in front of the homely fire with a good book and a mug of milky caramel tea, before she began to indulge herself in a world of pure imagination. An immeasurable amount of time could have passed before her eyes began to feel heavy and she set herself up for heading to her bed.

As she was beginning to think about getting herself up and preparing for the night and her mind had wandered to the softness of her bed, she felt utterly warm and calm in the flames of the warm coals. The orange glow illuminated the room, reflecting of the polished wood and onto the empty canvas of nothingness that made up the night sky.

Suddenly the door slammed wide open, making her jump and turn in surprise, when in stumbled Malfoy. When her eyes set upon him, she saw not the person who left her in the middle of the dance floor, but a very drunken boy , and as he raised his diluted eyes to hers he unstable began making his way around to her. The flickering flames now seemed to spotlight him and dim everything that surrounded his body, making his pallid face turn almost a sickly yellow in the abnormal light.

But their eyes still shined bright, one pair with surprise and one intoxicated.

He slurred unknown words as he held his arms out to her and continued advancing like an animal to his prey, as she tried to back away she soon realised that behind her she could move no more due to the solid stone wall. So there she was, rooted to the spot, eyes wide in surprise as a very drunken Malfoy clumsy closed the gap between them. He was drunk on drink whilst her mind was drunk with surprise at this very odd and sudden turn of events. Her eyes now shinnied with fear in the flicker of flames that now looked horribly dangerous and free compared to their earlier glow of welcomes.

As he became closer the light changed and his face plunged into darkness, casting a loaming shadow over her body as she stayed firmly pressed against the wall. Her palms were sweaty but spread and flat again the wall. Only once did her eyes leave his, and this was to check that her wand was left discarded on the sofa, where she thought she had left it.

Now he was within feet of her, he roughly pushed his hands onto the wall on either side of her head, encasing her in his strong arms.

Their heads were now so close that only now she could feel his hot alcohol-infused breath on the side of her cheek and see his chest heaving up and down in a slight struggle to catch his breath. As well of these features she couldn't help but notice his pale yet flawless complexion, how muscular his shoulders appeared under his white shirt and how it was tight in all the right places: exaggerating his body shape. She let her gaze flicker lower for a second, to his lips, to his torso; and then to the side where his hands flexed against the wall.

As his hair began to flop and tickle her sweaty forehead she brought her eyes back up to his, finding them suddenly closer. What was happening? Malfoy, her deadly enemy, had her pressed against a hard stone wall just centimetres apart. She couldn't think, she couldn't even breathe.

His eyes were suddenly intense, almost threatening.

For a moment Hermione thought that he was going to hurt her, but then before she could consider this fact any further he suddenly pushed himself forcefully towards her: kissing her. For a moment she was in such shock that her mind began to register the fact that she thought that she enjoyed the way his lips pressed against hers, the way they forced hers for more, but in a surprisingly warm and tentative manner. For a second she could have imagined that she heard a low but definite moan rise in the depths of her throat.

As then, as if a light bulb had been flicked on inside her head, she was acutely aware of what he was doing: what she was doing. She closed her lips firmly so his danced softly on top of hers, she pushed as hard she could against his firm chest. Nothing happened.

In her desperate anger and attempt to escape she moved her head to the side, gasping for breath, as he continued to smother her cheek. She pushed as hard as she could against his arm that was acting like her cage, before he suddenly gave way and stumbled into the wall.

She never turned around to see where he eventually fell asleep, all she knew is that she was running to her bed in a fluster. She was hot, sweaty and her breathing was ragged and uneven as it came in gulps and small pants.

How did such an innocent day turn into such a confused and messed up night? She knew the ball was always going to bad – but what the hell had just happened?

She crashed out on her bed, but she didn't sleep – she didn't even get close. Her mind was full of all things Malfoy.

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><p><strong>Yes?No? Love? Hate? Anything feelings at all feel free to share them and make my day : )<strong>

**Show some love and review!**


	17. Remember to Regret?

**I am so sorry for the ridiculous amount time since the last update; I don't think any excuse will be good enough so I am not going to try to give you a good enough one. In truth I had almost just given up on this story, but then when I was looking back over the few last chapters I remembered where I wanted it to go and I fell in love with it again- so just to let you know this story is still going, just may not be updated at regularly as I first thought. **

**Thank you so much for all the people reading this, as this means that you have stuck with me this far! I know that you might think that this story is really slow and un-progressive, but please stay with me as I have a plan! **

**A Million-and-One THANK YOU'S to: **

**Alerts: clairerichardson711, 17**

**Reviews: sweet-tang-honey**

**You keep me writing, literally. **

**So because of the reeaaalllllyy long time since last update, here is just a quick reminder for those (like me) who when they first read this chapter they had forgotten what has happened:**

_**Harry has left Hermione to go and search for Horcruxes and Ron, along with the rest of the Weasleys, have been forced to move to America due to their lives being endangered by the Dark Lord. Hermione had been appointed Head Girl and the Head Boy is, you guessed it, Draco Malfoy. With Hermione feeling more alone than ever before and Malfoy being entangled with orders from Lord Voldemort, life at Hogwarts is more down than ever before – not to mention Snape as Head Teacher and Voldemort's followers as the newly appointed teachers. Then (in the last chapter) there was a Ball, at which Hermione and Draco had to go together, but ended up in Draco in getting very drunk and kissing a dumbstruck Granger. Hermione was aghast, but Draco didn't remember a thing... **_

**So I really hope you enjoy this chapter, you all deserve to for staying with this story as long as you have!**

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><p>Erghhh, Draco moaned as he slowly groggily regained consciousness after a very unsettling yet vivid dream. He rolled onto his back and tried to unwrap his sweaty body from the tangle of blankets he was trapped him, his breath hot and heavy he tried to recall the nights events as he spread himself across the double bed that he had somehow managed to have collapsed in last night. His head banged from the intake of alcohol he had drunk the night before and his muscles ached like he had fallen on them all at once, basically he just felt like hell.<p>

He had had one the oddest of dreams in his recent memory; he couldn't remember it all fluently, just fuzzy sections as if he was seeing it through blurred eyes. At first he was in a sort of murky darkness that seemed to be spinning, making his head thump with dizziness. And then suddenly through the haze he saw Granger, frightened and wide eyed, then his legs were making him walk to her: unstably putting one heavy foot in front of the other.

Then after a few disorientated seconds she was right there, he could smell her, feel her and then he could taste her. She was there kissing him; and when it happened the dream seemed to halt and not a thing stirred around them for an unknown period of time. But something was wrong, the kiss turned haggard and forced and he was being pushed with her petite hands – for more?

After that all he could bring his mind to remember after the kiss was almost like a clouded haze, all he could see when he tried was more darkness and a piercing silence – he was lost in his own dream.

And that was when he awoke - it was one of the most out of the blue dreams he had ever had, one that was not plagued with darkness and death like the ones that had been clouding his mind for the last year. But no matter how odd it was he couldn't help but feel a slight lust for it - he blamed it all on the drink.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Rounds. That was the thought that first came to Hermione's mind when she awoke, the morning after the night before. In about ten hour's time she would have to withstand two hours of rounds with Draco Malfoy- after what happened last night!

Her only hope was that he would be too embarrassed to show himself to her, after the state he had been in last night.

However as was the story of her life, she was unlucky. As she hurriedly escaped out of the portrait hole and turned the corner she heard it reopen after just seconds after she was out of sight. She tried as hard as was possible for her to run down the stone corridor whilst trying to stay unnoticed and keep her feet silent.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

And so Hermione Granger spent the majority of the rest of the day darting through corridors and peeking around corners, trying to avoid a certain Malfoy. Lessons came and went and soon enough it was time for her to face the music and head to portrait as this is where they always met, even though that hat never formally arranged it, at six o'clock.

Six came and went as she was just thinking that her suspicions were right and she was being lucky for once in her life, when around the corner appeared Malfoy: caring his swagger with his normal amount of authority and aristocracy.

Great. A perfectly awkward evening laid ahead of her, just for her to follow. He strode up to her and with a slight smile on his exhausted face and, in his cold tone, greeted her 'Ready?'- Well sort of greeted. However his eyes never left the floor, making him look like a young child preparing for a telling off, instead of replying she just began to walk: he followed.

For the first few minutes all was silent, as it was most nights, Hermione was spending the time to try and conjugate the words in her head that she so wanted to say to him. However, nothing would roll off her tongue; this resulted in a few slightly odd noises erupting from her mouth. Evidentially after she tried to disguise one of these noises with a distorted cough he turned around.

'Are you ill or something?'

'No.' she sharply replied keeping her jaw tight and her eyes even straight.

'Look, you can go back to dorm, I really couldn't care less. You know: there are millions of other places that I would rather be right now than listening to you making noises that sound as if you are trying to regurgitate your dinner.'

'Oh, cause that's what you would want isn't it Malfoy. You just want to get off so you can go get drunk again and go and shag another girl. I bet that what you do in your free time: go from girl to girl seeing who will take it the furthest. Well, keep your filthy hands off me in the future'. The words spilled out before she could even think of what she was saying.

For a second there was a look of intense concentration and confusion on Malfoy's face. This quickly turned to an angry fury:

'What did you just say to me' he said through tightly gritted teeth, anger burning like flames in his eyes.

But he was too late, Hermione's hand jerked and went directly to her mouth, realising her mistake, And before she had the chance to reply she had run back through the empty corridor and out of sight. Leaving Draco in a rage with only the memories of her words stained in the forefront of his mind.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Eleven. Twelve. It was twelve o'clock that evening and Hermione was laid on her bed, her hair spread like a mane around her face and still in her robes- she was wide awake. She led there staring up at the wooden bed frame above her head whilst twiddling her wand in her fingers to keep them occupied.

What the hell had she done! Why couldn't she keep her big mouth shut? But the bigger question – why couldn't life be kind to her and let her sleep, just for once?

-0-0-0-0-0-

It was at nearly ten to two that morning that Herminie fell asleep, and it was just over five hours later that she awoke again. After rising and creeping out of her room she went down to breakfast feeling totally wrecked. As she sat there crunching on her toast and contemplating on the totally crap day that lay ahead of her a letter seemed to fall from the sky above onto her plate.

This isn't what really happened of course, it was an owl that had dropped a piece of parchment addressed to her, and before she was too hasty to open it she wondered who it was off – could it be dangerous?. Harry and Ginny always sent letters directly to her room and there was no one else who every attempted to contact her. So she reluctantly broke the seal, her eyes skimmed the page immediately to the bottom to see who the sender was. Ah. McGonagall.

Her heart sunk.

She rallied her eyes to back to the top of the page to re-read (and actually take in the information). She read as follows:

_Miss Granger, _

_Please would you meet Mr Malfoy and myself for a brief meeting in my office this lunchtime. _

_Regards,_

_Professor McGonagall_.

Great, of all the things she had been trying to avoid recently at top of her list was Malfoy. What could this meeting be about? It couldn't have been about last night's events, not even Malfoy would endanger his reputation and confide in what had happened.

And with that the clock stroked singling the start of her academic day and so she gathered her books together and heaved her way out of the Great Hall, only to be greeted by terrible day.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Hour after painfully slow hour the day began to pass, and soon lunch approached and after a fulfilling meal that felt like it was refusing to stay down in the depths of her stomach, Hermione began to ascend to her Transfiguration's teacher's office. This time she would not be late.

And late she was not; in fact she was early and so was left with ten minutes of sickly silence sitting opposite her Professor. However, no matter how awkward it was she couldn't help wishing that it would last infitity and _he_ would not walk through those open doors. Luck was not on her side.

He sauntered into the room and took his seat in his position in the masterful wooden chair next to her. Before McGonagall abruptly began:

'Now, I have something to discuss with you both. Before I begin I would just like to mention how delightful you both were at the ball: a credit to yourselves!'

Both students nodded and smiled after this comment, what their Professor didn't know what that how that night quickly turned itself into a sort of messed up nightmare only hours after her intervene had been forgotten.

'However, this meeting is not to do with your head student duties. In fact, it is somewhat at the other end of the spectrum.'

Now turning her head to Hermione:

'Miss Granger, I have recently had a brief discussion with Mr Malfoy because it has come to my attention that he had recently been underachieving in my subject of Transfiguration. As I am sure you are aware, you are indeed a first class student and therefore I would like you to begin to tutor Malfoy in the area, just for an hour a week until he regains his position in class. We all know that he is a highly capable student and he has proved this with his work in the past, but somehow it has seemed to be lacking for reasons I do not posses.'

'I'm sorry Professor, but I don't quite understand. You want _me_ to _tutor Malfoy_?' Hermione questioned giving a quick side glance to her enemy: a small smile sprouted on her face when she saw that he was looking rather sulky and sullen in the chair now.

'Yes, that is exactly what I mean. And you accept I assume?'

'Well, I ..um.. I suppose so. But are you sure that _he_ is happy with this arrangement'

'_Mr Malfoy_' she corrected her 'is very appreciative that you are willing to help him'

A small but pronounced snort came from his side of the room, causing both female heads to turn.

'Well I think that is all, I will leave my room open for you on a Monday night at six in the evening. I will leave you to enjoy the rest of this glorious day' she said as she looked out of her window that showed the full beauty of Hogwarts' land. She was right, the cold and crisp air caused the leaves to frost: leaving a slight shimmer to the grounds.

And they got up, left their seats and went down different corridors: their hearts full of dread.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Even after their discussion with their Professor that night neither of the couple had made any more effort than normal to communicate. That night was spent for Hermione writing a long over-due letter to Ginny and Malfoy spent it reading up on Transfiguration. He wouldn't embarrass himself in front of Hermione, never.

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><p><strong>I know that his chapter in a bit bitty and unshapen, but I just wanted to show some different POV's whilst covering a few days and activites – not all future chapter will be like this!<strong>

**I am going to break a tradition and instead of thinking of a line why you **_**should**_** update, instead why don't you think of a reason why you **_**shouldn't**_**! **

**So all I left to say is that I hope you enjoy this and to those who celebrate it: have a Very Merry Christmas! And to everybody – I hope your New Year is full of promise and fulfilment (and lots of fanfic-ing!)-***


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